The Legend of Spyro: The Dragon Returns
by Wandergirl108
Summary: I WOULD make this a crossover, but apparently I can't. Spyro the Dragon x The Legend of Spyro - I'm linking the two series with this story. For a full summary, please look at the first page - it's too long to fit it here.
1. Intro & Summary

This is the second fanfic I ever wrote in my life - the last one I wrote before discovering that fanfiction was actually a thing. As such, I wrote it in a way that I intended to be translatable into a game, and I…don't really feel like rewriting the whole thing to undo that, so it is as it is. Being my second piece of writing ever, it's VERY rough around the edges - it lacks a lot of subtlety and finesse that I just can't figure out how to work into it for the most part. Basically, it's an extremely cheesy story, lots of drama and TONS of BS-for-convenience's-sake plot devices, as well as potentially nauseating amounts of Spynder. If anyone reading this has read my Thor fanfic, "Loki", and cringed at some points in the conversations between Loki and Darcy, you probably shouldn't read this.

In spite of all that, I feel like this is a story worth sharing, simply as a tribute to my love for the original series and my respect for the first reboot series's epicness. The canon for this story is all of the Playstation versions of the Spyro games where applicable - all except in the case of Shadow Legacy, which was only a Nintendo DS game. If you don't know one or the other of the stories, they will be told in this one sooner or later - people from one age need to learn about the story of the other, and vice versa. I also filled in ALL the plot holes, even the tiniest ones, and I even took the liberty of making use of some stuff that got lost in the first series's progression from the original Spyro the Dragon game - I give EVERYTHING an explanation and a conclusion. Be warned, this DOES lead to some rather drawn-out bits; still, I feel that they're a necessary part of the story.

Please appreciate this for what it is: A means of tying the first and second Spyro serieses together into one grand, epic story, and a conclusion to the tale of Spyro and Cynder. If you don't like it, I fully understand - this is FAR from my best work, and I take no offense. If even ONE person DOES happen to like it, then publishing this will have been worth it.

Thank you.


	2. Prologue

Spyro and Cynder were at the center of the earth as it blew apart, and Malefor had been taken away by the Ancestors. Spyro looked around…and knew what he had to do.

"…Just get out of here, Cynder," he said to her.

"You don't have to do anything. Let's just go," she pleaded.

"Go where?" he demanded. "There'll be nothing left! The earth is breaking apart! But I think I can stop it…I think I'm meant to."

"Then I'm with you," she said, and as Spyro released all the energy in his body in order to reverse the Destroyer's work, the last thing he heard was Cynder whisper:

"I love you…"

Then, the pieces of the earth reversed their path, and everything went black.


	3. Chapter 1: The Dream

Spyro the Dragon woke up from his sleep in his room at the motel by the ocean, near the Temple where he learned the secrets of the dragons.

"Hey, Sparx, wake up," he said to the glowing yellow dragonfly sleeping beside him.

"What is it, Spyro?" Sparx asked in his buzzing insect voice as he flew into the air to hover by Spyro's head.

"I just had a weird dream," said Spyro. "It wasn't very long, but…it felt so real…more real than any dream I've ever had."

"You should talk to the Elders about it," said Sparx without hesitation. Spyro wasn't one to think much of dreams, so Sparx knew that it was serious.

"Yeah…" said Spyro, yawning. He rolled over and tried to go back to sleep; the sun wasn't even up yet. Sparx, however, was worried, and didn't try to sleep anymore.

"Spyro, I think you should go talk to the Elders," Sparx repeated, hovering closer to Spyro's ear. When Spyro didn't reply, Sparx added, "Now!"

"They're asleep," Spyro replied sleepily, "and they have the right idea. I'll talk to them in the morning."

Sparx knew better than to argue.

"Okay," he said. He landed on the floor and tried to go back to sleep.

Neither of them _could_ sleep, though. Sparx kept wondering what kind of dream would get _Spyro's_ attention, and Spyro kept wondering why he had the nagging feeling that he'd had that dream before…

~o~

When Spyro walked to the Temple the next morning, he walked slowly, lost in thought, which was unlike him. Sparx was worried.

"What's wrong?" Sparx asked.

"That dream I had," Spyro replied. "It didn't feel like a dream, and I feel like I've had it before, but I can't remember when."

"What was it about?" Sparx asked.

"I'll tell you when I tell the Elders," Spyro replied, half listening. His thoughts kept returning to the strange dragon that had been in his dream. It had been black. He'd never seen a black dragon before, and it - she - had looked unlike any dragon he had ever seen, but in the dream, it had felt so normal…

Sparx looked at him as they went on, worried. Spyro was the impulsive type; he was a doer. Thinking had always been more of Sparx's thing, though he himself wasn't exactly a genius. Yet here Spyro was, clearly lost in thought. Thinking now himself, Sparx wondered if Spyro's strange problem had anything to do with the Shadowstone that Spyro had worn for over a month now. It was a powerful item, able to allow passage between the normal world and the Shadow Realm - a strange, dark version of the Dragon Worlds. It was supposed to be very draining on whatever dragon used it, and even though Spyro had been able to handle the stress surprisingly well, Sparx had always worried about the repercussions of having such a powerful Dragon Amulet, especially since Spyro was technically too young to have one yet; male dragons didn't get their Amulets until they came of age - only females were given their Amulets shortly after hatching. True, Spyro had been nearly two decades old when he'd gotten the Shadowstone, but still…it had only been given to him because of an emergency, Spyro being the world-renowned hero of the dragons and many other races besides. It was also true that the Dragon Amulet tradition had only been re-initiated as of the previous Year of the Dragon, after the Dragonfly Festival, when dragons and dragonflies acknowledged the ancient pact between the two species that allowed each dragon to bond with his or her very own dragonfly…

Sparx's thoughts wandered in this manner the rest of the way, while Spyro's thoughts refused to wander, try as he might to make them do so. When they arrived at the Temple, they were greeted by Elder Thomas.

"Ah, good morning, Master Spyro and Sparx," Thomas said.

Spyro's mind was so consumed by thoughts of his dream that he didn't even bother to greet Thomas in return, but immediately said, "Thomas, I had a really weird dream last night."

Thomas was silent for a moment, then replied ponderously, "Did you, now?" His tone indicated that this bit of news was significant to him.

"Yeah," said Spyro. "In it, I was-"

"Now hold on, young dragon, let's get all the Elders together to hear about it before you begin," Thomas interrupted.

Spyro barely heard the last half of the sentence, struck by a strange, oddly familiar feeling about what Thomas had just called him.

"Wait…what did you call me?" Spyro asked.

"I called you, 'young dragon'," Thomas replied. "Why?"

"You've never called me that before, have you?" Spyro asked, confused by his strange reaction to the title. It wasn't as if this was the first time he'd been called this, either; King Fromit in Avalar had called him that once, and so had Deputy Holiday in the the Forgotten Worlds…come to think of it, a lot of people had called him that, like Brothers Krankel and Ricci in the dragonfly home worlds, Mr. Funderlic, Red, and even Elder Cho Lei had called him that once…but he hadn't had the same feeling about it then…

"Yes, I have," Thomas answered Spyro. He sounded calm, but his eyes betrayed that he was in fact very excited about something.

"But-" Spyro didn't understand how his reaction could be so strange if he'd heard Thomas call him that before…but he did remember it…

"Come now, come in, I think we'd all like to hear about your dream," Thomas interrupted.

"Okay..." Spyro replied, confused, as the three of them entered the Temple. _Could this day get any weirder?_ he wondered. _Weird enough that _I_ think my dream was interesting. Why is Thomas so excited about it when he hasn't even heard it? And what about the title "young dragon"? I've been called that so many times…why does it feel so weird now?_

When they entered the Temple, Thomas immediately called in a projecting voice,

"Elders, one and all!"

Sensei, Elder Titan, Elder Astor, Elder Magnus, Elder Cho Lei, and Red, who had recently been reinstated as one of the Elders, turned to face Thomas, Spyro, and Sparx.

Gesturing to Spyro, Thomas said, "Our young pupil here has something to tell us."

"Oh?" asked Elder Magnus. "What is it, darling?"

Thomas walked up to join the other Elders as Spyro said, "Well, I had a dream last night, and I was wondering if it would mean anything to you." When the Elders all looked at him without responding, Spyro took a breath, feeling as though a spotlight was on him, and continued. "In my dream, I was…at the core of the world, somehow, but…I could see the sky. There was another dragon with me, a weird-looking black one. Her name was Cynder."

At this, the Elders looked at each other, their eyes wide.

"She looked really weird, though," Spyro continued. "The tip of her tail looked like a silver flame…and her neck, legs, and tail all had metal bands around them…and she had four horns that were all straight and smooth and silver-white, and they streamed behind her head, and sort of framed her face…oh, and there were two other horns on her neck that helped frame her face, but…they were more like spikes…and…and she had a weird pattern on her forehead, and her mouth looked like a beak, and her scales were black, but she was mostly red because of her underside and wings - and there were _talons_ coming off the peaks of her wings…but…in my dream, I didn't think she looked weird. In fact, in my dream, I thought she was kind of pretty."

He paused. The Elders were definitely excited now - they were stirring and looking at each other with wide-eyed excitement that seemed to border on joy. Spyro wondered what was going on, but decided it was best to continue.

"The world was ending," he went on, "and suddenly, somehow, I knew I could stop it…but I thought I'd die, and so would she if she stayed. I tried to tell her to leave, but…she wouldn't. The last thing I remember was her whispering…" Here he paused, unsure if he felt like telling them what she said. After a moment, he decided to go for it.

"She whispered to me, 'I love you'," Spyro finished. "Then…I woke up. That's all."

The Elders looked at him, their expressions joyful. Spyro didn't know what to do or say; it was very awkward. After a moment, he spoke into the tense silence.

"Does that dream mean something to you?" he asked. "Could you tell me what?"

"Oh, Spyro, my boy, you're finally ready!" exclaimed Magnus.

"I never thought, in my old age, that I would live to see this day!" cried Titan.

"I told you all the time would come soon," Red said to the rest of the Elders.

"What's going on?" asked Sparx.

"Yeah," Spyro inserted, "what _is_ going on? What am I ready for? Why does that dream mean I'm ready for it?"

"Because, my dear Spyro," replied Thomas, exultant, "that dream wasn't a dream at all!"

"_Huh_?" exclaimed Spyro. "If it wasn't a dream, then what was it?"

"It was a memory," answered Cho Lei.

"A _memory_?" repeated Spyro. "But…that's never happened to me!"

"Not in _this_ lifetime," Sensei said cryptically, visibly happy for the first time since Spyro had met him.

"_This_ lifetime?" asked Spyro, becoming more and more confused by the minute. "What do you mean?"

"Spyro, my boy," Thomas said grandly, stepping down toward Spyro, "the time has finally come for you to learn of, _and_ _fulfill_, your _true_ destiny."

"My destiny?" asked Spyro. "Didn't I already do that? You know, with Gnasty Gnorc, Ripto, the Sorceress, Grendor, Red, the Sorcerer, and all the other bad guys I've fought?"

"Being a hero _is_ your destiny," Thomas answered, "but the deeds you've done so far have all been for the purpose of readying you for your true, greater destiny."

"So…what's my true destiny?" asked Spyro.

Red replied, "To bring back the days of the dragons of old, and lead us back into our former glory…

"…as the father of our race."

"_WHAT_?!" Spyro exclaimed.

"Red, Red, slow down!" Astor scolded. "He doesn't know the story yet; wait until he's heard it!"

"What story?" Spyro asked, his head reeling.

Instead of answering, Thomas commanded, "Everyone, go to the far reaches of the globe! Summon every sentient creature you can find: dragons, cheetahs, fairies, dragonflies, moles, wizards, even thieves…everyone! Bring all of them to the Great Plain; they all need to know what's about to happen, as it affects the entire world! Give all of Spyro's personal friends front-row seats, then all the dragons, and everyone else behind them!"

"And what will you do?" asked Red.

"I am going to bring Spyro and Sparx to the northern edge of the Great Plain and, with his help, work a spell so that thousands of acres of people will be able to hear everything that we are going to tell them," Thomas answered.

"Let me do that," said Red. "My magic is more powerful."

Thomas hesitated for a moment, then conceded.

"Very well," he said. Then, once again addressing everyone, cried, "Let's go!"

All the dragons flew off in different directions; Red, along with a very confused Spyro and Sparx, headed to the Great Plain, and all the others flew off to summon everyone in the world.

_What the heck is going on?!_ Spyro wondered.


	4. Chapter 2: The Story Told

Two days after Spyro's dream, all of the sentient creatures in the world were gathered before Spyro and the Elders in the Great Plain.

Spyro had never been to, or even _heard_ _of_, the Great Plain before. It was a grassy field that stretched farther than the eye could see - it would take a dragon flying continuously at full speed months to completely go around the outside edge. Thus, it was perfect for a gathering of the entire world. Red and Spyro had set up a projection spell so that everyone in the entire plain, no matter how far away, could see Spyro and the Elders as though they had front-row seats, so to speak, and so that every person could hear the speeches as though they were standing right in front of the Elders. A spell that powerful had taken hours to complete, and had left the two dragons needing several extra hours of sleep, but that had still left Spyro nearly a whole day to wonder what in the world was going on.

_I'm supposed to become the father of the dragon race?_ he had wondered. _How is that possible? There are plenty of dragons in the world. And what did Red mean when he said that I was supposed to restore dragons to their _former_ glory?_ He had pondered this thought more than any other while he had waited for the world to assemble. Only one breakthrough of thought had come to him: _That girl, Cynder…is she supposed to become the _mother_ of the dragon race?_ The thought was disturbing to think about; he was still, after all, a young dragon. Really, he was still essentially a child, despite his many adventures and battles with evil. Besides, he'd never seen a dragon that even remotely _resembled_ Cynder, whoever she was. Then again, he'd never seen a dragon that even remotely resembled Red, either. Still…why hadn't he heard the name before? Was she important even though he hadn't? And, more importantly, why did he feel like he had heard the name before, when he knew perfectly well that he had _not_? There was a red dragon_fly_ named Cinder, he knew, but the spelling was different, and that had nothing to do with a black dragon. He had discussed the matter with Sparx, but even working together, they couldn't make sense of it. Spyro had also tried asking Red, but the strange dragon had only replied that it was a long story, and should only need to be told once, while the whole world was listening.

And now, the day had come. Creatures such as Gnorcs, Riptocs, Rhynocs, and the like had, of course, been excluded, though some of them had managed to sneak in anyway as spies for the rest of their kind. Spyro, Sparx, and the Elders were in a kind of pocket in the crowd, at the very northernmost point of the plain. Immediately surrounding them were Spyro's many non-dragon friends: Hunter the Cheetah, Bianca the Sorceress (in training), the moles Professor and Blink, Sheila the Kangaroo, Sgt. Byrd the Penguin, Bentley the Yeti, Agent 9 the Monkey, Zoe the Fairy, Elora the Faun (whom Spyro hadn't seen in years), and Moneybags the Cheapskate Bear. Immediately surrounding them were all the rest of the dragons in the world, and the rest of the plain was full of a variety of species from all the different realms and regions of the world. There were literally millions of people in the entire assembly.

"Quiet down, everyone," Thomas announced to the somewhat agitated crowd. He paused while the message got through to everyone, and when he was satisfied that everyone was listening, he continued.

"All of you are wondering why you're here, I know," he began.

"No kidding," Spyro mumbled to Sparx. Spyro was rewarded for his comment with a glare from the Elders, and then Thomas continued his speech.

"The truth is, there is a very long story behind why you are all here today," Thomas said. "I intend to tell it now, as it affects all of you, and all of the world, at this time more than any other. Again, the tale is a long one, but it is very important that you all bear with me."

"Great, story time," Spyro mumbled again, more out of habit than actual boredom. In truth, he was very interested to hear the story, but he was so used to not caring that he couldn't hold his tongue.

Again, the Elders scolded him with their eyes. Then, Thomas cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Long ago - five million years ago, to be more precise - dragons were not as we all know them today," he began. "No; they walked on four legs, had other visible differences from today's dragons, and far more notably, they were much more powerful than the dragons of today. Even young Spyro here, though he is the most powerful dragon to exist in over four and a half million years, amounts to about as much as the weakest of the dragons of old." At this, the crowd whispered amongst themselves, surprised and captivated by the idea. "The dragons of old were stronger in both might and magic," Thomas went on, raising his voice to talk over the murmur of voices. "Each and every dragon was born with the ability to completely master an element. Fire, Ice, Electricity, Wind, Earth…_all_ elements, not just Fire, were under the complete mastery of the dragons, as were many spells so powerful, all of us Elders working together would not be strong enough to work them. The ancient dragons were also big and strong; a single blow from one of their wings was enough to send an enemy flying backward. Furthermore, they could take hits themselves; they did not even know of the _existence_ of dragonflies until the very end of the Great Era.

"Those days are long gone now, and very little remains of the great dragon empires of old. The story I am about to tell explains why things changed…and how they will return."

_Return?_ thought Spyro. _Is that what Red meant when he said I would return the dragons to their former glory? How am I supposed to do that?_

"You see," Thomas went on, "back in those days, dragons came in all sorts of colors, and it was generally their color that marked them as masters of one element or another. Millennia before the Great Era ended, a dragon was born of a color that had never before been seen, and who had more raw power than anyone could ever have possibly imagined. He had the power to master not one, but _all_ of the elements, including those that no dragon had ever controlled before, such as Time itself.

"This dragon was purple. His name…was Malefor."

Spyro shuddered instinctively at the name, as did many others in the crowd, though no one had ever actually heard that name spoken before. As for the dragon being purple, well, that wasn't _that_ remarkable in modern days; in fact, a dragon of the Artisans Clan by the name of Alban was even the exact the same shade of purple as Spyro, as was another dragon of the Beast Makers Clan, named Sadiki…

"Malefor's power was so great, and he was so eager to learn to master his abilities, that the Elder Dragons of the time - then known as Guardians, each of them the supreme master of a different element - willingly handed down all the secrets they knew of elemental mastery to him," Thomas continued. "The day eventually came when Malefor had learned everything the Guardians had to teach him, yet he craved more. He read ancient texts, mastered with ease spells that took most dragons lifetimes to accomplish, and the more powerful he grew, the more power he craved. He wanted to become as powerful as he could possibly be, yet his power was infinite. When he could learn no more from books, he began to experiment with his power, and discovered secrets that had never been meant to be learned. He mastered new elements, elements that were rarely mastered, if ever, and never had any representation among the Guardians who lived in the Temple; _terrible_ elements, such as Poison, Fear, and Shadow. Finally, he discovered the existence of the great Golems that existed deep beneath the earth's crust; enormous, powerful, evil creatures with more might than even the strongest of the ancient dragons…and among them, he discovered the greatest, most terrible creature of all: the Destroyer.

"Yes, the Destroyer, whom legend told could end the very world itself, were it ever unleashed into the light of day. A monster buried so deep beneath the earth, and so very strong, that not even the greatest of dragons had the power to awaken it.

"None, that is, except Malefor.

"In his might, Malefor wanted to accomplish something that no other dragon had ever been, or would ever be, capable of, and in his power-driven madness, he became convinced that awakening the Golems and the Destroyer had been the reason he had been born, his very _raison d'être_.

"Malefor went before the Guardians and told them of his discovery, and said that he wanted to include them in the construction of the spell that would awaken the Golems and the Destroyer, claiming that he respected all that the Guardians had done for him and didn't wish to leave them out of this glorious accomplishment. The Guardians, of course, were horrified to hear what Malefor had become, and so they banished him from the Dragon Kingdoms. Infuriated, Malefor began building an army so that he could return to the volcano from which the Golems and the Destroyer would arise so that he could perform the summoning. No dragons wanted to help him, of course, so he built an army of Apes, a species which no longer exists. The Apes served Malefor out of a desire for power more than out of loyalty to him, which is why he eventually destroyed them, but in the beginning, they were given all the power they wanted. Malefor taught them how to harness the power of the gems, so that they could-"

"The power of the gems?" Spyro suddenly asked. He'd had plenty of dealings with gems, and to him they had always seemed perfectly useless, albeit pretty and monetarily valuable.

"Yes, the power of the gems," answered Red. "Back in the days of old, gems were not just pretty trinkets; they were our strength, our very life force."

"Today, we collect gems as a tradition in honor of the old days, when we drew our energy from them," added Titan.

"Huh," remarked Spyro. He had always collected gems on his adventures, usually to return them to the dragons' hoards, from which they had been stolen. Despite this, he had never thought to wonder why the gems were so important, but this new explanation somehow made sense to him, although he suddenly wondered why a deal had been made with the thieves that allowed them to take the crystals from which gems were made, if they could get the crystals back to their territory without being caught. The whole point of the treaty was to keep the thieves from stealing anything of magical value to the dragons, like their eggs - there was even a clause that said the dragons could raid the Thieves' Den if such a thing were taken - and it was true that they were asked not to steal _refined_ gems, but that clause wasn't enforced very strongly, as thieves were expected to take some what they weren't allowed to have. But if the crystals, and the gems which were made from them, were magical, too…

Thomas continued.

"The Apes were taught to harness the power of the gems so that they could use them to power their terrible machines and instruments of war," he said. "And, as Malefor stood atop a mountain, gazing out toward the Dragon Kingdoms, all of which he intended to destroy, the sheer weight of his evil cracked the very foundation of the mountain upon which he stood, creating what was known as the Mountain of Malefor - or, to those on Malefor's side, the Well of Souls - where lost, evil spirits who had passed on could reside. The mountain became Malefor's base, as well as the home of the Ape King, Gaul, who was the greatest and most terrible of the Apes. The mountain itself, besides being home to dark souls, was also a sort of connector between this dimension and another one - not the Shadow Realm, but a far stranger place. The mountain, so they say, stood draped in shadow, with green slime pouring down its sides, the peak open to the hollow of the mountain, and a vortex of dark energy flowing right through the very center of the opening and stretching up beyond the sky. It was a grim and terrible place.

"After a while of preparation, the Apes, led by Malefor, went to war against the dragons. The war was to rage on for over a thousand years, for the Apes had the advantage in numbers, while the dragons had the advantage in strength; the two armies were evenly matched. During the war, Malefor came to be known as the Dark Master, a fitting name for the evil beast he had become. The Dark Master himself was always the first to fly into battle, and countless dragons were killed by his power. Finally, after hundreds and hundreds of years of war had passed, the greatest of the dragon mages worked together to create a spell to stop Malefor's unbridled rage, for he was far too powerful to be defeated. Somehow, though it is not known how, the dragons managed to seal the Dark Master in a different dimension, the very same one that was connected to the Mountain of Malefor. Some say that the dragons actually went to the mountain to perform the spell, and that the connection facilitated the feat. Those dragons who performed the sealing gave all of their life force to make it work, and died.

"However, peace did not follow, for the Dark Master was still able to communicate with his armies through the mountain, and they with him. The Apes, though weakened by the loss of their master, still continued to battle the dragons in skirmishes, though outright war was put on hold. Malefor knew that it was not his destiny to be trapped in the alternate dimension forever, and he spent all his time in his imprisonment crafting the means by which he could be released. However, less than a year after Malefor was banished to his prison in another dimension, there came a prophecy from the Ancestors of the dragons of old, through an old dragon on his deathbed, that after ten more generations passed, a second purple dragon would be born, one destined to defeat Malefor once and for all. The Apes quickly learned of this prophecy and reported to their master through the mountain, but Malefor was not afraid; he was far too arrogant, too full of hubris, to fear defeat. Still, he eagerly anticipated the day that that dragon was to be born, for it marked the time of his release; after all, he could not be defeated if he were not present in the world. In the meantime, he told his armies to hold back a little, and slowly gather strength for an all-out assault on the Dragon Temple, which was located on a distant island, where the eggs were held each Year of the Dragon, so that they could destroy the purple dragon's egg."

"Why would he plan to destroy the egg if he wasn't afraid of the prophecy?" asked Bianca.

"Yeah, it sounds to me like he was scared," agreed Hunter.

"No one exactly knows for sure," answered Sensei. "Some _are_ of the opinion that he was secretly afraid, but others believe that he had gotten far enough in his planning to realize that he _needed_ a dragon in order to be freed from his imprisonment, and intended to kill two birds with one stone; that is, he already intended to go after the eggs, and felt that he might as well destroy the purple dragon's egg while he was at it."

"It still sounds like he was scared," Sparx remarked. "If he wasn't, why did he wait to steal an egg until the purple dragon's egg was laid?"

"Malefor's exact thought processes, you must remember, were twisted, just as he himself had become," Thomas said. "In any event, the whole world waited for the day that the prophecy had foretold, and after 1200 years, during which many dragons were still killed, a second purple dragon egg was laid.

"At the time of the egg's coming into being, there were four Guardians of the Temple: Terrador of Earth, Cyril of Ice, Volteer of Electricity, and the wise leader, Ignitus, Master of Fire. Ignitus believed them to be prepared for any assault on the Temple by the Dark Master's armies…but he was wrong. The Apes launched an all-out attack on the Temple one night; Gaul himself was on the front lines. When the other Guardians saw them coming, Volteer ran to Ignitus, who was staying with the eggs, and told him that the armies were approaching. His panic conveyed the severity of the situation to Ignitus, and Ignitus decided to quickly get the purple dragon's egg out of harm's way before anything else."

"How did he know which egg was the purple dragon's egg?" asked Spyro.

"Well, back then, all dragon eggs were the color of the dragon they contained, instead of all being identical spotted things," said Magnus.

"So, the purple dragon's egg was…"

"Purple," Thomas finished for Spyro affirmatively. "Ignitus grabbed the purple egg and flew down to the bank of a river that flowed to lands far from the Temple, places dragons had never explored. Placing the egg inside a large mushroom cap, Ignitus prayed to the Ancestors for the purple dragon's safety, and sent it floating downstream.

"He immediately returned to the Temple to face the armies and attempt to protect the rest of the eggs, but by the time he got there, the other Guardians had been overwhelmed, and all of the eggs were lost."

"The Apes destroyed the eggs?" asked Zoe.

"Yes," Thomas confirmed. "Malefor, being so twisted, wanted to exterminate the entire dragon race, as though he had never been one. However, not all of the remaining eggs were destroyed; one of them had been taken whole, so that Malefor would have the power he needed to free himself from the dimension in which he was trapped; for you see, only a dragon born in the Year of the Dragon could open a portal to Convexity, a strange place that serves as an airlock between this dimension and all others.

"This egg was taken directly to the Well of Souls, and the moment it began to hatch, it was placed in the vortex of energy through which the Dark Master communicated with the world, immediately exposing the dragon inside to Malefor's terrible influence. The poor dragon never even had a chance to make a choice before she was poisoned and corrupted by the Dark Master's power. So filled was she with the Dark Master's force that, though she had just hatched, she resembled a dragon in her prime: enormous, powerful, and ultimately, mindless; she had become the Dark Master's puppet."

"She was a black dragon, wasn't she?" Spyro said, making it more of a statement than a question.

"Yes," Thomas answered, "she was the very dragon you saw in your dream: the Dark Master's terrible pet, the black dragon, Cynder.

"She filled the skies with terror, lending a fresh wave of strength to the Dark Master's forces, leading armies of Apes to many victories against the dragons. The Guardians themselves were forced to go into battle, which played right into Malefor's hands; Cynder weakened them and took them to remote places so that she could use their energy for the Dark Master's benefit. Ignitus alone managed to escape, though he was reduced to hiding in a cave, his hope gone, his spirit broken.

"The purple dragon egg, meanwhile, floated on its mushroom cap boat down the river, and came to rest in a distant swamp where a community of dragonflies lived."

"Dragonflies?" inquired Sparx.

"Yes, dragonflies, though, like dragons, they were far more then than they are today," replied Thomas. "Now, this was about two and a half decades before the ancient magical pact was made between dragons and dragonflies, and the dragonflies in the swamp had never seen or even heard of a dragon before.

"When the dragonflies discovered the egg, they were unsure at first what to make of it. Before they had finished wondering, it hatched right before their very eyes. The dragon inside, like the egg, was in itself a mystery to them, but they decided to adopt him and raise him as one of their own. Specifically, he was raised by a couple who had another son that had been born on the very same day as the purple dragon. The two grew up together as brothers; a young purple dragon, and a young, glowing, yellow dragonfly whom his parents had named Sparx. They named the dragon…

"Spyro."

"You're kidding, right?" asked Spyro incredulously.

"Not at all," Cho Lei answered for Thomas. "This story is that of your namesakes, and why you were named after them."

"I was named after a powerful dragon of old?" asked Spyro.

"And I was named after a _dragonfly_ of old?" Sparx also asked.

"Yes, yes, yes, but please, let me finish the story!" said Thomas, annoyed.

"Sorry," mumbled Spyro and Sparx.

"Spyro, like all of us, accepted the world into which he was born, believing himself to be a dragonfly, albeit a large, purple one," Thomas continued, "until, one day, Spyro and Sparx were playing tag, and strayed further from home than they had ever gone or been permitted to go. Almost immediately, a small band of Apes pounced on them, taking Sparx and locking him in a lantern case."

"Sparx was turned into a lantern?" asked Sparx, somewhat confused by having to refer to someone else by the same name as his own.

"Indeed, but not for long," replied Thomas. "Spyro, being bigger, fought the Apes to save his friend, and was able to hold his own, though he had never fought anything other than frogweeds before."

"Frogweeds?" Spyro queried.

"Yes, they were strange creatures that lived in the old days; some say they were frog-like plants, and others say they were plant-like frogs, but the fact was that they ate dragonflies as part of their diet," Thomas explained. "Anyway, the leader of the band of Apes quickly grew annoyed by Spyro's interference, and was about to crush Sparx under his foot, when, as much to his own surprise as everyone else's, Spyro, full of adrenaline and anger, released a stream of fire from his mouth. The leader of the pack fled to report to Cynder, and the rest of the Apes tried to kill Spyro, but, wielding his new ability to breathe fire, he overpowered them all.

"Immediately afterward, Spyro and Sparx told their dragonfly parents the story, who in turn were saddened by the news, for they knew at that moment that the time had come to tell Spyro the truth. That was how he learned that he wasn't a dragonfly at all, but a strange creature from a distant land, where war was constantly being waged. Spyro, overwhelmed by all of this, decided to leave the only home he had ever known in search of his true origins. Sparx, after a talk with his parents, decided to join Spyro on his quest. The two were never to return.

"By chance, the path they walked led them straight to Ignitus's hideout in a small cave. Neither Spyro nor Sparx had ever met a creature so big, but both of them recognized Ignitus as the same sort of creature as Spyro. Ignitus, who felt some modicum of joy upon seeing the purple dragon alive and well, told them most of the story of Spyro's origins, leaving out the part about the origins of Cynder, and how the cause, in his mind, was lost.

"Spyro, however, was determined to see his home, and he managed to convince Ignitus to take him to the Temple, which had been overrun by the Apes. Ignitus, bereft of hope, reluctantly led Spyro and Sparx there, and Spyro battled many creatures along the way. His strength gave Ignitus hope once more, and together, they took back the Temple.

"Ignitus, realizing that Spyro had come to learn the use of the element of Fire on his own, taught him all that he could in a short period of time about mastery of the element, as well as battle tactics for close combat. Spyro excelled in these short lessons, and Ignitus was filled with pride and joy at the coming of such a powerful young dragon. After the brief lesson, Ignitus went to gaze into the Pool of Visions, which was a small, magical pool located in the Temple, to see what he could see, being one of few dragons who could tap into the knowledge the pool could provide. In it, he saw that Volteer was being held captive on an island known as Dante's Freezer. Spyro, of course, wanted to rescue Volteer, and Ignitus taught Spyro one more power so that he could go, a power Spyro had never guessed he had had: the power to fly.

"Spyro flew to Dante's Freezer, where he faced many foes, both Apes and ghouls that were native to the island. In fighting his way through the island, he was by chance struck by a bolt of lightning, which awoke in him the power to use Electricity Breath."

"Which is pretty convenient, seeing as how he was going to rescue the Master of Electricity," Spyro remarked.

"Yes, the Ancestors gave great fortune to Spyro in that manner, not just on Dante's Freezer, but in all his journeys to rescue the Guardians," agreed Thomas. "Anyhow, Spyro fought his way to the center of the island, where he defeated the Ice King - which was a strange creature made of armor and magic, and which possessed the ability to control the element of Ice - and rescued Volteer. The two of them and Sparx flew back to the Temple together, Volteer bearing news of Cynder's current movements. When the three met up with Ignitus in the Temple, Volteer reported that he had seen Cynder flying away from Dante's Freezer carrying a glowing yellow orb, which he guessed had been charged with his own energy. This news was disturbing, but none of them could make anything of it, and they continued. Volteer gave Spyro a quick lesson in the mastery of the element of Electricity, much the same as Ignitus had done with the element of Fire, and then Spyro was sent away to Tall Plains to rescue Cyril.

"On that island, he faced many more hoards of Apes, as well as a couple of hostile native species, and he also met one of the natives of the island; Kane, the leader of the Atlawa, which was the native tribe. In fact, Spyro rescued Kane from being carried away by a Dreadwing, one of the terrible, bat-like, flying steeds of the Apes. Kane showed no gratitude, but instead went to drive the Apes off the island himself. Spyro later ran into Kane again, who was knocked unconscious and thrown into a river, where he slowly drifted toward a waterfall. Spyro, being a good-hearted person, wanted to rescue Kane, and in his desire, he suddenly released a stream of ice from his mouth that froze the river on either end of Kane, who then managed to pull himself up and continue on his way, still not bothering to thank Spyro for his rescue. Nonetheless, Spyro journeyed on, fighting all opposition, until he came to the natives' shrine to the Earth God. There, a large rock spirit arose to destroy Spyro, but Spyro defeated it and was able to rescue Cyril, while also gaining the worship of the natives, which he politely rejected.

"When they made it back to the Temple, Cyril confirmed Volteer's suspicion about Cynder's harvesting of the Guardians' powers, though for what, he wasn't certain. As before, Cyril gave Spyro a brief lesson on the mastery of the element of Ice, and then Spyro went off to rescue the last of the Guardians, Terrador.

"The island he then came to was dominated by a large volcano known by the natives as Boyzitbig-"

"Boy-is-it-big?" Spyro inquired.

"Yes, that _is_ the origin of the name," Thomas admitted. "As for the natives themselves, they likewise referred to themselves as the Manweersmalls, originating from the statement, 'Man, we're small.'"

"The Manweersmalls?" exclaimed the Professor. "Those are my ancestors!"

"Yes," said Thomas, "the Manweersmalls were the ancestors of today's moles. In fact, Professor, not only are the Manweersmalls your ancestors, but one of your specific ancestors, Mole-Yair, was a lifelong friend of Spyro."

"Cool!" said Blink, who was the Professor's nephew.

"At the time, the Manweersmalls were being enslaved by the Apes, forced to remain above ground, though Boyzitbig was about to erupt," Thomas continued. "Terrador was being held at the heart of the volcano, and Spyro fought his way there, while also helping the natives get underground. As I said, Spyro specifically met and befriended one of the older Manweersmalls named Mole-Yair, who was able to point Spyro in Terrador's direction. On the way, Spyro and Sparx found an old bell, which Sparx dared Spyro to ring. The bell was so old that it fell on top of Spyro when he rang it, and Spyro, in desperation, discovered the ability of Earth Shot Breath."

"Okay, Fire, Ice, and Electricity, I can understand, but _Earth_?" Spyro said incredulously.

"As I said, dragons back then were capable of far more than we are today," replied Thomas. Then he continued.

"When Spyro finally reached the heart of the volcano, he confronted the Conductor, an Ape who drove a small train car he had named Steam. Spyro battled the Conductor and won, but not quite in time to rescue Terrador and escape before Cynder arrived to pick up the third crystal. Cynder arrived in all her power just as Terrador, Spyro, and Sparx were about to leave, and she chased Spyro through the air while Terrador went back to the Temple for help. The chase went through the entire mountain, but when they finally reached open air, Cynder was so closely on Spyro's tail that she was less than inches away from being able to _bite_ his tail. Just when Spyro thought he was finished, Ignitus came out of nowhere and tackled Cynder, and both of them plummeted to the ground. Spyro wanted to go after them, but Terrador convinced Spyro that it was better to return to the Temple first, and when they arrived at the Temple, Terrador was able to reveal the mystery of Cynder's crystals. The story went thus:

"Over the course of the previous years, during which Spyro had been living in the swamp, Cynder, with the Dark Master instructing her, had constructed a crystal that could be charged with the powers of the major elements by attaching small crystal orbs that were charged likewise. These small attachments could be charged with the elements by being plugged in, as it were, to the Guardians, one for each. Once the crystal was fully loaded with the elements, Cynder intended to deliver it to the Dark Master through Convexity, and it would give him the power to break free from his imprisonment."

"But Ignitus was the last Guardian she needed," Spyro said. "She wouldn't have gotten him if he hadn't come to Spyro's rescue," - _Man, that's weird,_ he thought - "so why did Terrador let her take Ignitus away?"

"Because Terrador, like the other Guardians, had been too weakened by Cynder's harvesting to be of any use against her," Thomas answered. "He really didn't have a choice.

"Now, Terrador, of course, gave Spyro a brief lesson on the use of the element of Earth, and then Spyro insisted on going after Ignitus. Terrador, reluctant but understanding, gave Spyro directions to Cynder's lair, a terrible place filled with Apes and dark magic. Spyro was not in the least bit deterred, for in the short time that he had known Ignitus, he had come to see Ignitus as a father figure - Ignitus was, in fact, the closest thing to a dragon father Spyro ever had. Spyro boldly fought his way to the top of Cynder's tower, where he found Ignitus, and where Cynder was waiting for him. They fought, though Cynder was really only stalling for time to let the crystal finish charging up on Ignitus's power. Still, Spyro was able to hold his own against her, and dealt her a great blow. Once the crystal was charged, Cynder grabbed it and fled into Convexity to finish her mission. As Spyro watched her go, he remarked to Ignitus, who had been freed from his magical chains, that there had been something familiar in her bluish-emerald eyes. This was when Ignitus finally told Spyro that Spyro and Cynder came from the same place. Confused but determined, Spyro went after her.

"Their battle continued in Convexity, though Spyro had been too late to stop Cynder from delivering the crystal. Their battle raged on for some time, until, after Cynder had been sufficiently weakened, Spyro dug deep down inside himself and managed to call upon, and release in a great blast, the element of Dragon itself. The blast beat Cynder over and over from all sides, until she fell to the ground, utterly defeated. However, instead of killing her, the element of Dragon purged her of Malefor's dark energy. Lying unconscious and beaten, right before Spyro's very eyes, she shrank down to her proper size, and Spyro could see that she was, indeed, like him.

"At that moment, Convexity began to collapse, as the Dark Master absorbed the energy of the crystal. Everything began to be sucked into the portal between Convexity and the Dark Master's prison. Sparx urged Spyro to leave, but Spyro, understanding that Cynder's actions had not been her fault, refused to leave without her. He picked her up, and with the last of his strength, he flew out of Convexity as it closed behind him. The three of them landed heavily on the ground, and the Guardians brought them back to the Temple.

"For several days, they all lived peacefully in the Temple, while all six dragons rested and gathered their strength. Spyro and the Guardians were all happy to have Cynder with them, but Sparx remained suspicious and wary of her. He fled the room every time she walked in, and refused to sleep with both eyes closed. This was very little compared to the hospitality the other dragons showed her, but it was more than enough to make the feelings of guilt in her heart worse and worse. She feared, deep down, that her actions _had_ been all her fault, and wished that Spyro hadn't rescued her. Her guilt and doubt were enough for the Dark Master to work a small tendril of influence back into her mind, so that he was able to urge her all the more, telling her that she didn't deserve to be a dragon, living in the Temple, after all that she'd done. Finally, she could bear it no longer, and in the dead of night, she 'decided' to leave the Temple. Sparx saw her sneaking away and was so relieved that he had to tell someone, so he went and told Spyro. Spyro, concerned, went after her, despite Sparx's protests. He caught her just outside the Temple and pleaded with her to stay, but she was beyond reasoning with, and she fled. At that moment, Spyro suddenly fell over and passed out.

"In his sudden sleep, he had a dream in which he spoke to a voice calling itself the Chronicler, who had come to Spyro in his sleep to warn him about the great danger to come. In his dream, Spyro learned to bend Time itself to his will - well, at least, to slow it down while he continued at a regular pace, if only for a short while at a time. Also, the Chronicler helped Spyro regain his control over the element of Fire, for Spyro had been unable to wield any of the elements since his battle with Cynder. Finally, the Chronicler told Spyro to seek him out, giving him a strange vision of a tree.

"Spyro then awoke to find the Temple under attack, and himself locked out. He battled his way back into the Temple, where he finished fending off the assault. Immediately afterward, the Guardians held a meeting, where Ignitus tried to see in the Pool of Visions where Cynder had gone, but could not; the Dark Master's power was blocking him. Suddenly, he saw a vision of Spyro at the base of the same tree, whereupon Spyro told the Guardians of the strange dreams he'd been having, especially his most recent one. All of these things happening at once made the Guardians fearful, for the Chronicler, Keeper of Time, tended to make himself known only in times of great destruction and doom. Most of all, they feared the coming of the Night of Eternal Darkness, when the two celestial moons that existed at the time would come into an eclipse. Spyro didn't know what that meant at the time he heard about it, but he understood that it was bad. After their meeting, the Guardians went their separate ways to prepare for the coming danger, and Spyro went to a remote, dark forest in search of the tree in his and Ignitus's visions.

"In his search, Spyro came upon a large group of Skavangers who, as it later turned out, were searching for strong creatures to force to fight in their arena for their entertainment. Shortly after he first saw them, Spyro passed out a second time, and had another dream in which the Chronicler helped Spyro regain his control over the element of Ice, then gave Spyro a vision of the Mountain of Malefor, as well as of the Ape King.

"Spyro later awoke, and continued through the forest until he found the tree he was looking for. Upon reaching it, to his alarm, he awoke an enormous forest spirit called Arborick. He battled the great monster and killed it, much to the displeasure of the Skavangers that had been roaming the forest. As it turned out, Arborick had been the prize fighter for the arena that the Skavangers had come to the forest to capture in the first place, and they came upon Spyro just after its defeat. So, instead, they abducted Spyro as compensation, knocking him unconscious.

"Spyro awoke in a cell on board one of the Skavangers' ships, and discovered, to his surprise, that Mole-Yair was also aboard the ship. Mole-Yair told Spyro where they were, and that he himself and his kind were kept on the ship as slaves. Their conversation was cut short by the arrival of the captain of the Skavangers, whereupon Spyro was immediately thrown into the Skavangers' arena with a pair of enormous creatures called Blundertails. He defeated them, of course, but right after his victory, he passed out yet again.

"In his third dream he regained his control over the element of Earth, and then the Chronicler told Spyro about the Mountain of Malefor's true nature. Finally, he revealed that he himself could be found in a place called the White Isle.

"Spyro awoke again when the captain came to make him fight in the arena once more. Spyro defeated the machine against which he had been pitted, but afterward, in his cell, Mole-Yair delivered a message to Spyro from another prisoner. The message said that word of Spyro's imprisonment had travelled quickly and to be careful, but assured Spyro that he had allies. The note was signed, 'Hunter of Avalar.'"

"Hey, that's who _I_ was named after!" exclaimed Hunter, jumping up. "He's my great-great-great-great-great-one-hundred-thousand -times-great grandfather!"

Everyone was startled by Hunter's sudden input; they had all been so captivated by the story that most of them had forgotten about their own existence. Hunter's interruption was not appreciated, but Thomas took it in stride and said, "Yes, Hunter, your most esteemed ancestor was yet another one of Spyro's lifelong friends."

"Why were you named after a cheetah from millions of years ago?" Bianca couldn't help asking.

"He was the first King of the Cheetahs in Avalar," Hunter answered. "I was named after him because I'm the King's son, and my dad thought it would be cool to name me after him."

Bianca didn't ask any more questions, and neither did anyone else, so Thomas went on.

"To continue, Spyro was forced into battle a third time, and was victorious. The Skavangers appreciated the show that Spyro could put on for them, and Spyro was immediately thrown into a 'bonus' match with none other than Cynder herself, who had also been captured. The two of them didn't have time to figure out what to do, however, before the fleet of Skavangers was suddenly attacked by the Dark Master's forces. There was an explosion and a great cloud of dust, and in the confusion, Cynder was captured and flown away by one of the Apes that were riding Dreadwings.

"Spyro was forced to flee in a different direction. He went through the ships one at a time, rescuing Mole-Yair and his kind along the way, while searching for a map to the White Isle. He found such a map, but never got a chance to look at it before he was attacked by the captain of the Skavangers, whose name was Skabb. The map was lost in the fight, and Spyro, after defeating Skabb, was forced to fly away with no sense whatsoever of where he was _or_ where he was going. Before he had time to decide how to proceed, however, he passed out for a fourth and final time, and fell into the ocean far below - _far_ below, for the Skavangers' ships flew high in the air. Fortunately, Spyro was rescued by a large turtle-like creature, and was ferried to the White Isle by this means.

"In this final dream, the Chronicler helped Spyro regain his control over the element of Electricity, but said nothing more. Spyro, however, _did_ have a vision of Cynder being brought before Gaul in the Well of Souls.

"Spyro awoke on the island, and worked his way, uncertain, to a large citadel at the center of the isle. There, he was confronted by, and overcame, riddles and tests of his mastery over the elements, until finally he had just one more obstacle to face: his deepest fear. The magic of the island searched his heart for what he feared most, and it came to him in the form of an enormous creature that changed its color depending on what element it could be affected by at any given time. More than an enemy, though, it took on the form of Cynder, before she had been purged of the Dark Master's influence; for that was Spyro's greatest fear: that Cynder would be turned to evil again, if she wasn't already.

"At any rate, he overcame his final test, and was rewarded with being able to finally meet the Chronicler face-to-face. The Chronicler was a large, ancient dragon, white in color, that many say resembled a large goat more than a dragon. Here, Spyro was finally told of the coming disaster. The Night of Eternal Darkness, the Chronicler explained, was called such because, at the time of the eclipse, the dark souls within the Mountain of Malefor would be roused and allowed to roam its halls, though only for a short while. It had been foretold that on this night, the Dark Master would be able to break free and return to the world. The Chronicler wanted Spyro to stay in the shelter his home provided for the duration of the event, and Sparx was all for it, but Spyro, knowing that Cynder would be corrupted yet again by the Dark Master if he did nothing, insisted on going after her. Reluctantly, the Chronicler complied, and showed Spyro the way to the mountain.

"The mountain was full of hoards upon hoards of Apes and ghouls, but Spyro, determined, fought his way through all of them, making his way all the way to the very top of the mountain, and from there, he jumped down into the throne room of the Ape King, which was on the inside of the mountain's peak. There, Spyro battled Gaul for his own life and for those of his friends. The battle the two waged was so fierce, it was said to have shaken the mountain itself; it is known for a fact that the floor they fought on collapsed, and they fell to a lower level, both knocked unconscious. Spyro, unfortunately, had fallen into the center of the vortex of dark energy that rose through the mountain to far beyond the sky, and at that exact moment, the celestial moons made a full eclipse. Spyro, being helpless at the center of this terrible alignment, was infused with the Dark Master's power. It is said that he turned black, with glowing, pupil-less white eyes, and gave off black smoke all over his body. At any rate, he certainly wielded the element of Darkness for that short time, unleashing all of it against Gaul and pulverizing the Ape King to dust.

"When he flew back up to the level above, where Cynder and Sparx waited, his final release of dark energy against Gaul had expelled enough of it for him to try and fight off the Dark Master's influence, so he was able to tell his friends to run. Cynder, seeing his struggle, tackled him out of the terrible vortex of dark energy. Spyro was able to regain his senses, but was deeply shaken by how easily he had been taken over by the Dark Master's madness and power. The mountain then began to collapse around the three of them, and they briefly had a way out, but Spyro, filled with doubt, hesitated. Cynder and Sparx refused to leave without him, but they ran out of time and were trapped. Despair began to weigh down on them, but suddenly, Spyro had an inspiration. He told the others to get close to him, he put his wings around them, and, calling upon his control over Time, he froze them all in a large crystal, where they remained, frozen, though aging, for over three years.

"During the time the three of them spent in the crystal, the Dark Master returned in all his terrible power, and war was waged once again, more viciously than ever before. The Dark Master, displeased by the Apes' true motivations for joining him, which they revealed when they complained about the loss of their king, laid a terrible curse on all of the Apes, reducing them to skeletons lurking in the shadows, and built a new army, one of creatures of his own making. Malefor took over the Temple and suspended it high above the land, over the volcano from which the Golems and the Destroyer could be summoned. Having control over the spot from which he could summon the Golems and the Destroyer, he unleashed one Golem upon the world after another. Many, many dragons perished all over the world, most of all in the dragon city, Warfang, which was nearest the Dark Master's new lair.

"Malefor also took the Time Crystal in which Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx were frozen. He spent his spare time designing a contraption he was to use on the two dragons, and when the time came at last, his minions destroyed the crystal. The three small heroes needed time to regain consciousness, time during which the Dark Master's minions took two magical snakelike things that Malefor had constructed and wrapped one around each of the two dragons' necks. The items locked into position and became the first Dragon Amulets, apart from the Chronicler's Time Crystal, which he always wore, and still wears, around his neck. The two strange things were magically bound to one another, so that Spyro and Cynder were physically incapable of being more than a few feet apart without being tugged by the magical leash. The magical chain was also able to be tied to certain constructions made by the Dark Master, and the two young dragons were tied onto a platform in this manner.

"When at last they awoke, they found themselves at the center of a stadium filled with the Dark Master's new minions. Before they had time to gather their bearings, one of the Golems from deep within the earth arose to destroy them. Spyro and Cynder quickly realized that they had to work together, and so they did, battling tooth, claw, and tail. Together, they managed to unhook themselves from the weight that bound them to the platform, and they fled.

"They hadn't gotten far before they met Hunter, who had been tracking them. They followed him into a seemingly peaceful room, where Spyro and Cynder gathered their strength by smashing crystals into gems. Through one of these crystals, the Chronicler spoke to them, telling them what they were capable of. He reminded Spyro of his ability to wield Fire, Electricity, Ice, and Earth, and revealed that, though she was not a purple dragon, and therefore was only supposed to be capable of mastering one element, Cynder had been changed by the dark energy that had touched her, and was able to wield four elements: Poison, Fear, Wind, and Shadow. The band of four then continued on. The same Golem that had attacked before found them, but they all escaped to less open rooms of the Catacombs. Spyro and Cynder practiced to get the hang of working together with their leash binding them during the lull. Just as they were about to leave, though, the Golem they had fought previously attacked one more time, and lost its left hand, which was held together by dark crystals that drained the dragons' magic, and which, it later turned out, was the source of the energy of all of the Dark Master's forces. The pair destroyed the Golem's hand and continued.

"They flew through a cave with a river running through it, passed through the Enchanted Forest, and were just getting caught up by Hunter on current times when they were attacked by Hunter's own people, the chief of whom did not trust either of the dragons, Cynder for her history, and Spyro because of the reputation Malefor had made for dragons, especially purple ones. They were all tied to posts inside the cheetah village in the Valley of Avalar, but the village was quickly attacked by some of the Dark Master's creatures, and Spyro and Cynder were released to prove their good intent by fighting the monsters off, which they did. When the chief took a head count after the monsters had been repelled, he found that one of his people was missing: a cheetah named Meadow, who had gone upriver to gather herbs and hadn't returned. Spyro and Cynder volunteered to find him, and the chief told them that if they came back without him, they would be punished."

"Hang on," Elora interrupted. "'Chief'? How could there be a King if there was a chief?"

"Because my great-great-great-great-great-one-hundred-thousand -times-great grandfather was looked up to and obeyed by all the cheetahs after he showed great wisdom, courage, and leadership in some great war or other," Hunter recited.

Everyone stared at him, all with either real or metaphorical eyebrows raised.

"What?" Hunter asked, looking around.

"'Some great war or other'?" Elora repeated with a laugh.

"_What_?" Hunter asked again, not understanding.

"_This_ war, silly!" Bianca explained with a smile, hitting him playfully. "The one we're talking about right now!"

"_Ohh_…" Hunter said as it dawned on him.

"_If_ I may continue," Thomas said, irritated.

"Yeah. Sorry," said Hunter. "Go on."

Thomas sighed with frustration, then went on.

"Spyro and Cynder found Meadow easily enough, being held captive by a small group of monsters, whom Spyro and Cynder quickly disposed of," Thomas continued. "However, Meadow was injured in the skirmish, and could not walk back home, so Spyro and Cynder were forced to fly back and forth all over the valley to get a raft and bring it back to the entrance of the cave in which Meadow waited. In their mission, they came upon some of what was left of the Apes, and met a hermit who told Cynder that Malefor would find her and punish her for her betrayal. Despite this strange warning, the two dragons and Sparx managed to get Meadow back to his people, and the chief released them and Hunter, guiding them to the path to Warfang, where the Guardians were posted.

"When they got there, they discovered that the City of Warfang was under siege at that very moment, and Spyro and Cynder worked together to turn back the armies that were intent on taking the city. With the help of the two young dragons, the tide of battle was turned, and Malefor, in a rage, sent one of the great Golems to attack and destroy Warfang - the very same Golem that had lost its hand to Spyro and Cynder not long before. The great creature, it is said, smashed one of the walls of the city with its remaining hand, and then reconstructed its other hand from the rubble. The Guardians tried to fight the beast, and one by one the Golem defeated them. Spyro and Cynder, recognizing that they were the city's last hope, fought side by side, and managed to eventually kill the Golem despite the odds.

"Finally, they were reunited with Ignitus and the other Guardians, who were proud and happy for them and their accomplishment. Their happiness was short-lived, however, for moments later, Malefor finally summoned the Destroyer, which was truly an enormous creature, far greater and more terrible than anyone could have ever imagined. They say its back was in fact a large chunk of land; ruins of buildings were even said to have stood on its back! Without hesitation, it began to take long strides and form the Circle of Annihilation, the completion of which would mean the end of the world. Because it was so massive, it was able to walk at a frightening speed despite the relative slowness of its actual movements. The dragons despaired upon seeing it, but they valiantly went to the underground tunnels, which was the fastest way to reach the edge of the Belt of Fire, which was the Destroyer's aim, and went through them, hoping to cut the Destroyer off, though they knew not how.

"It was Cynder who found a way. She noted that the canyon the Destroyer had to cross in order to complete the circle was very deep, and that there was a large dam not far away. To her, it was simple: release the water from the dam, and the Destroyer, being made mostly of molten lava, would be stopped in its tracks.

"Together, Spyro and Cynder managed to release the water from the dam and flood the canyon. Sure enough, the Destroyer was rendered unable to continue. While it was immobilized, Spyro and Cynder flew all around it, destroying all the dark crystals they could find. They even went inside the Destroyer through its mouth and destroyed its very heart! When they escaped the inside of the beast, the two young dragons, Sparx, and the Guardians celebrated their victory.

"But it wasn't over. Somehow, no one knows how, the Destroyer still managed to gather the strength to pull itself forward, detaching its own legs, and strain to place its hand on the beginning of the circle it had started so that it could complete its terrible work.

"The Destroyer was very weak, and couldn't summon much strength to go on, but the dragons were deeply afraid. They realized that the only way to stop it was to confront Malefor himself. Two groups split up: Spyro, Cynder, and Ignitus headed to the volcano over which Malefor's lair floated, and the other Guardians, along with a very reluctant Sparx, went to gather all the inhabitants of Warfang and get them underground."

"Why didn't Sparx go with Spyro?" asked Sparx, still slightly disturbed by talking about another dragonfly that shared his name.

"Because Sparx was the only one besides Spyro and Cynder who knew the underground tunnels very well," answered Thomas. "It was Spyro himself who told Sparx to go, though he didn't want to any more than Sparx did.

"While Sparx and the others went back, Ignitus, Spyro, and Cynder flew to the Belt of Fire, which surrounded the volcano. Using his mastery over the element of Fire, Ignitus was able to shield the young dragons from the heat, but it took him every last bit of his life force to get them all the way through. Thus, Ignitus died, leaving Spyro and Cynder to face Malefor alone.

"Spyro, deeply shaken by the loss, had half a mind to turn back, though there was nothing that could be done. It is even said that some remnant of Malefor's power still lay dormant within Spyro after his exposure to it three years previously, and that his despair and anger over the loss of his mentor re-awakened it. Cynder managed to talk him down, though she too was sad. Drawing strength from one another, the two young dragons found an updraft and flew to the islands that floated above the volcano, where Malefor's dwelling lay."

All of the audience in the Great Plain now shifted, each of them eager to learn how the story ended.

"Together, Spyro and Cynder entered Malefor's home and came face to face with the evil dragon himself," Thomas continued. "Malefor, feeling mildly threatened by how far the two had managed to come, began to speak aloud as fact what the two feared most in the world. He appealed to Cynder's fear that she would never be able to choose goodness, and he spoke to Spyro's two fears: that purple dragons were _meant_ to be the destruction of the world, and that Cynder was Malefor's puppet, then and forever. He feigned gratitude toward Cynder for his return, telling them how she had lured Spyro to his mountain that night - which in truth she had not done intentionally, nor even of her own free will - and how it was Spyro who had brought him back into the world, which was true - Spyro's presence, and his exposure to the Dark Master's power, had allowed Malefor to gain a foothold in the world and break through, though again, this had not been the intention of either of the two young dragons. Malefor then told Spyro that it was the destiny of the purple dragons to awaken the Destroyer and end the world, and that there had in fact been many other purple dragons before the two of them - which was a complete lie. He was so well-spoken, however, that Spyro began to doubt himself, and Cynder began to doubt her own memories, which contradicted Malefor's words. Through her doubt, Malefor was able to take control of Cynder once again. She didn't grow to beastly size, but she _was_ imbued with dark energy, and became mindless. Malefor forced her to attack Spyro, who refused to fight back. Even in her blinded state, Cynder was confused, and asked Spyro _why_ he refused to fight back. It is said that Spyro replied,

"'Because…you've left me nothing to fight for.'

"At these words, Cynder's true feelings for Spyro stirred within her heart, and she was able to push the Dark Master's influence out of herself.

"Malefor, in a rage, immediately changed tactics and attacked them. Together, Spyro and Cynder fought the Dark Master and dealt him a crippling blow.

"At that moment, the Destroyer was able to gather its strength and complete the Circle of Annihilation, and the globe exploded.

"Down they fell, Malefor, Cynder, and Spyro, down to the exposed core of the earth. Even as they fell, their battle waged on, and Spyro and Cynder managed to overpower Malefor again and again. Finally, when they reached the very core of the earth, Malefor, weakened, and feeling threatened, cried,

"'You cannot destroy me! I am eternal!'

"After saying this, he unleashed a blast of the element of Dragon, and Spyro and Cynder combined their use of the element of Dragon - which all dragons, after a certain age, had the ability to do, given the right circumstances - and matched their combined power with his. Through sheer will, the two overpowered him. No sooner had Malefor suffered this final defeat, than the spirits of the Ancestors rose up around him, eyeing him with anger. He cried out in terror as the Ancestors grabbed him and pulled him into the realm of the dead over which they ruled. Thus, the Dark Master died.

"Despite his death, however, the world continued to end. In the in-between place that the world had become, Ignitus came to Spyro and told him that when a dragon dies, he does not leave the world, but becomes a part of it. Hearing this, Spyro knew what he had to do, and he told Cynder to leave so that she might live, but she refused."

"Were they in love?" asked Bianca.

To most of the audience, this question seemed random, but Thomas smiled.

"Indeed they were, young sorceress," Thomas answered her, "and Cynder stood by Spyro's side as he called upon all the power and life force in his body and unleashed it, calling all the pieces of the world back together again."

"Did they die?" asked Elora.

Before Thomas had a chance to answer, Spyro suddenly spoke up.

"Wait," he said, "the Ancestors just came and took Malefor away? Why didn't they just do that in the first place? It would have saved the entire world a lot of trouble."

"To answer _your_ question, Spyro, well, some say that it was because the in-between-ness of the world, as it was destroyed, allowed the Ancestors access to the world of the living, and others say it was because Spyro and Cynder had sufficiently weakened Malefor, and that he was too powerful at full strength for the Ancestors to take him. A few even say, though it is not confirmed, that the core of the earth, where the three dragons had landed, was in fact the Ancestors' dwelling. Most people, however, agree that it was probably some combination of factors," Thomas answered. "As for _your_ question, Elora, the answer is in the final chapter of the story I'm now telling." Thomas took a breath - he'd been talking for a very long time - and finished the story.

"Spyro's reversal of the Destroyer's work had taken all of his life force, but as the world was still more of an in-between place, the Ancestors allowed him and Cynder to live on for a time, delivering them upon the same piece of the world shared by Sparx and the other Guardians," Thomas said. "The two young dragons spent several weeks alone together, during which they told each other stories, and then they went back to Warfang.

"When they arrived there, they were greeted with great joy by all the inhabitants, most of all Sparx. However, not much later, the spirits of the Ancestors came before them, and with Volteer, Cyril, Terrador, Sparx, and Cynder as witnesses, they told Spyro that the time had come for him to pass on.

"Cynder wouldn't hear of it. She pleaded with the Ancestors to spare him, arguing that it wasn't fair, that even if he had to die in order to restore the balance of nature, there wouldn't be a balance of nature _to_ restore if it hadn't been for him. She begged them with all her heart and soul and every fiber of her being, and they say that the Ancestors, hearing the grief and desperation in her pleas, were moved to crying mortal tears in sympathy for the unfortunate young dragon who was about to lose the only good thing she'd ever known, though they were dead and disembodied."

"So…they let him live?" asked Spyro.

"Sadly, they could not," Thomas answered. "In truth, they had added Malefor's own near-infinite life force to Spyro's incredible work of magic, but it still wasn't enough to make it so that they could spare him. So…they compromised."

"Compromised?" Spyro repeated. "How could they compromise in a situation like that?"

"I'm very glad you asked, young dragon," Thomas replied. "Here is what they finally settled upon:

"Spyro had to go with the Ancestors, after which there would be a long, long age of peace. Then, a few years before that peace was to be broken, Spyro would be reincarnated. Cynder, in the meantime, was to be frozen in time inside a crystal, much as she had not long prior to the agreement, except that she would not age this time, and only Spyro would be able to release her. She was to be looked after by the Chronicler himself in the meantime, and in the crystal, the Ancestors stored all of Spyro's memories and most of his magic, so that he would remember his origins and go back to being his old self when the time came. Then, the two dragons would be reunited at last.

"Unfortunately, after the deal had been done, it was discovered that Cynder had been the last female dragon in the world; all the others had been killed in the war, as had most of the males."

"So how is it that there are so many dragons today?" Spyro asked.

It was Sensei who answered. "The Chronicler, Master of Time, Keeper of the History of the Dragon Race, and Guardian of the Balance of Nature, was able to find a way," he said. "Purely through magic, dragons, both male and female, could be created by using the life force of the gems and the life forces of all the remaining dragons. However, those dragons would be mere shadows of the mighty creatures dragons once were; most wouldn't be able to master any element, their magic would be far weaker, and there would be several distinct physical changes as well."

"So _that's_ why the dragons are so different today!" Spyro realized out loud.

"Yes," said Red, "and it was shortly after that that the ancient pact between dragons and dragonflies, presided over by Sparx himself, was made; it was done to compensate for the weakness of the new breed of dragons. Unexpectedly, however, the pact was so powerful, so magically binding, that the dragonflies, like the dragons, were also reduced to mere shadows of what they had once been."

"Really?" asked Sparx. "What did the dragonflies used to look like?"

"They flew upright instead of lengthwise, had full heads, could speak as clearly as any dragon, could be several colors at once, and, most notably, they had arms and hands. With fingers," Red added, anticipating Sparx's next question.

"Hey, that reminds me: why is it that dragonflies' builds have gotten more elaborate lately?" Spyro asked. "I mean, just a few years ago, dragonflies were sticks with eyes, wings, and a mouth."

"The strength and complexity of the dragonflies' bodies are directly affected by the conditions of the bodies of the world's dragons, due to the strength of the ancient pact," answered Astor.

"Yes," Thomas confirmed, "and today, there are stronger dragons in the world, such as yourself, young dragon. Thus, the dragonflies have gotten stronger as well." Then, he took a breath and grandly finished his speech.

"Ever since Spyro passed away, dragons have been awaiting his return, for he and Cynder will bring back the days of the dragons of old. We have waited long, and we have waited patiently, and now…" He turned to look directly at Spyro. "Now…our patience is about to be rewarded."


	5. Chapter 3: Destiny Calls

"How so?" Spyro asked.

The Elders looked at him expectantly, and suddenly, everything clicked in Spyro's mind.

"Wait…you think _I'm_ the reincarnation of that Spyro?!" he cried.

"We _know_ you are," replied Thomas. "We've always known, since just before you hatched, when your egg fell out of a thief's bag and you hatched right before the eyes of several dragons…from your _purple_ egg."

"Your power has been unmatched by any other dragon's in millions of years," added Astor. "Why, you started breathing fire before you were ten years old! Most dragons can't breathe fire until they come of age!"

"And you've been such a big hero all your life," Magnus inserted. "The prophecy foretold that you would arrive in the world in time to save it from the dangers that were coming."

"_And_ you were chosen by a _yellow_ dragonfly," Titan added. "Yellow dragonflies are rare, but Sparx chose you right away!"

"Wait a minute," Spyro said, turning to face the other dragons assembled there, many of whom he'd saved from imprisonment inside crystal shells years ago. "You _all_ knew, didn't you? _That's_ why some of you guys kept mentioning my destiny! You!" he gestured toward an aged lavender-colored dragon, named Ivor, of the Peace Keepers Clan. "You almost _told_ me when I freed you from being trapped in crystal!"

The other dragons turned to glare at the dragon Spyro was addressing, who in turn shrugged and said, "I forgot, though, and I _didn't_ tell him."

"And you!" Spyro added, turning on an old gray dragon, who also happened to be named Astor, of the Artisans Clan. "You wanted to tell me a story when I freed you! Was _that_ what you were going to tell me?"

The other dragons now turned on Astor the Artisan, who said defensively, "He didn't _let_ me tell him, though!"

"What about you, Gunnar?" Spyro demanded of a yellow dragon of the Peace Keepers Clan. "When I freed _you_, you said that you knew that if I kept it up I'd fulfill my destiny!"

The other dragons frowned at Gunnar, who said defensively, "He wasn't interested in it!"

"Were you talking about this too, Ragnar, when you said that some dragons thought I wasn't ready, but you knew they were wrong?" Spyro shot at a blue-gray dragon with spots from the Peace Keepers Clan.

"I didn't answer him when he asked me _what_ he was ready for!" Ragnar said to the dragons, all of whom had turned on him.

"Of course the Peace Keepers would have trouble keeping the secret," Sensei muttered angrily to the Elders, who nodded in agreement.

"Come to think of it, what about you, Damon?" Spyro asked a dark green-gray dragon from the Beast Makers Clan. "You were saying that you remembered something when I ran off."

"I wasn't really going to tell him!" Damon exclaimed at the glares of the audience.

"And you, too!" Spyro yelled at a dark coral-colored dragon from the Beast Makers Clan, whose name was Cyprin. "When I freed _you_, you mentioned that one day I'd be able to tell all the dragons about my 'amazing adventures'! Was _this_ what you meant?!"

"He misunderstood me!" this dragon said defensively in response to the glares of the other attendants.

"Come to think of it, you mentioned this too, Mr. Funderlic!" Spyro shouted, turning on a blue dragon who didn't belong to any of the clans. "You said that purple dragons were a rare breed and that you all expected great things from me!"

"I also told him he'd understand when he was older!" Mr. Funderlic said in his defense.

"Did you know about this too, Hunter?" Spyro demanded of his friend.

"What? No!" Hunter exclaimed.

"Then why did your friend Kasi once say, 'nothing says magic like a purple dragon'?" Spyro snarled.

"It's just a myth!" Hunter exclaimed. "I mean, I thought it was. And Kasi is _not_ my friend!"

"Yeah?" Spyro snapped. "And what exactly is this 'myth'?"

"Just an old saying among cheetahs," Hunter answered. "It goes, 'Only a purple dragon has the power to create and destroy.'"

"And you never thought to mention that to me, even though _I'm_ a purple dragon?!" Spyro demanded.

"Um…" Hunter said sheepishly.

"How could you keep this from me all these years?!" Spyro cried to the general audience, outraged.

"Because we were _supposed_ to!" cried Titan, striking the ground with his staff.

"Spyro, darling, please understand," said Magnus, "we weren't _supposed_ to tell you until your memories started to return on their own! Your dream a few nights ago means that you're now _ready_ to fulfill your destiny!"

"And what a glorious destiny it is, too," remarked Red. "I would have been honored if it had been me."

Spyro stood there, all eyes on him, and felt as though his entire world had just turned upside-down. He couldn't think, he couldn't hardly _breathe_; he felt like he was falling, like the world was spinning around him. More than anything, though, he felt as though he were drowning in a deep sea of fear. For some reason he couldn't explain, he feared this destiny more than he had ever feared any of his foes, however great. Something told him that bringing back the days of the dragons of old with Cynder wouldn't be as easy as it sounded, that something bad would happen first, something _very_ bad, something far worse than any of the dangers Spyro had ever faced before.

Oblivious to Spyro's terror, Thomas said, "Come now, Spyro, it's time for you to go to the White Isle where Cynder waits. Red will escort you there."

"Why Red?" Spyro heard himself ask.

"Because some amount of the blood of the ancients, however small, runs in my veins, as can be demonstrated by my ability to furl and unfurl my wings," answered Red, demonstrating this trait physically as he spoke. "You and I are the only dragons in the world strong enough to make the trip, now that you've defeated the Sorcerer."

"Was the Sorcerer like one of the dragons of old?" asked Sparx.

"Yes he was," Red answered, "more so than any other dragon since the old days. Present company excluded, of course," he added, addressing Spyro. "Come on, now; the world has awaited this day for over five million years! Let's go!"

"Okay," Spyro heard himself reply, and, feeling as though he were moving through a dream, he took flight with Red and followed the strange dragon in the direction of the island on which it was finally time for what remained of the dragons of old to be awoken.

~o~

The flight took hours; the two dragons and Sparx flew through the night and well into the next day. Spyro took this time to try to get everything straight in his mind, preferring to focus on such trivial things as the strange pattern of the island-jumping that _that_ Spyro had done when he was rescuing the Guardians; it seemed to Spyro as though each of the islands that _that_ Spyro had gone to had been dominated by the element he was to learn, and rescue the master of, on the _next_ island. Spyro greatly preferred to focus on things such as these, rather than study the strange sensation of looming disaster that was growing inside of him every moment. It wasn't his apprehension of getting married, though, as a pre-adulthood dragon, the notion _was_ rather disturbing. No, it was something far deeper, something far more deadly…he never allowed himself to get any further than that when the notion struck him to wonder about it.

Sparx, meanwhile, wondered how _he_ fit into all of this. He _had_ been named after the old Sparx, and he knew he would like to be the _reincarnation_ of the old Sparx and get his old memories and such, but he had barely been mentioned in the final chapter of Thomas's story. He wondered what would happen if he _wasn't_ the reincarnation of the old Sparx when Spyro got his memories and powers back. What would become of him? Spyro wouldn't need him anymore…

Red's thoughts were in a place far, far away from those of his two charges. He silently pondered many things, such as the idea of reincarnation itself. He barely noticed as the sky changed and warped and went dark and strange, nor did he notice when the White Isle came into view; it was Sparx who saw it first.

"Look at that island! Is that it?" he asked Red.

"Hm?" Red responded, coming slowly out of the train of thought he had been following. "Oh, yes, that's it, that's the White Isle." He banked down and landed on the isle's edge, Spyro coming to rest beside him.

As they made their way up to the citadel at the center of the island in silence, Spyro couldn't help but look around in wonder at all the strange ruins and statues all over the place. It seemed to him almost as though time stood still here, like the island was an otherworldly tribute to the history of the entire world. As soon as they reached the courtyard, Spyro's gaze of wonder at the place was stopped short when he noticed something standing at the center of the courtyard.

There, like a mosquito in amber, frozen and suspended inside a large blue crystal, was the black dragon that Spyro had seen in his dream. She looked exactly the same. Her eyes were closed, and her expression was intense, as though she were preparing herself for something.

"There she is," Red marveled quietly, almost to himself. "What a beauty…"

Spyro's first and foremost thought about her looks was that she looked _weird_, but, after considering it a moment, he was forced to admit to himself that there was something both fierce and elegant about her form.

The three of them just looked at her for a few minutes, not moving, not speaking. Then, Sparx broke the stillness.

"Aren't you going to go free her?" Sparx asked Spyro.

Spyro didn't respond. Something deep inside of him had stirred, urging him to set her free, but the part of him that still harbored a deep-seated fear made him hesitate. Something wasn't right…

"I'll go first," Sparx said after a minute.

_That_ got Spyro to speak up.

"What do you mean, you'll go first?" he asked Sparx. "_I'm_ the one here who's a reincarnation."

"Well, since you're obviously scared, I'll go touch it first so you don't have to worry about any booby traps," Sparx answered, and he flew up to the crystal. For a moment, he was suddenly fearful of the black dragon inside, but he twisted himself around and touched his tail section to the surface of the crystal.

To the astonishment of everyone there, Sparx was immediately enveloped in a blinding light. It wove around him, blocking him from sight, then flashed once and faded.

When at last the light died down enough for Spyro and Red to open their eyes, they saw that Sparx had been transformed. He hovered upright instead of lengthwise, had a full head, and most notably of all, he had arms and hands - _with_ _fingers_!

Sparx looked at his hands for a few moments in wonder. Then, he spoke up, overjoyed, his voice free of the insectile whine that had always been a part of his vocalizations.

"Woohoo!" he cried. " Check it out! _I have hands_! Spyro, look, _look_!" He flew right up to Spyro's face and waved his hands in front of Spyro's eyes. "I have _hands_!"

"Yes, you do," Spyro replied, stunned. Then, suddenly, Sparx's eyes widened and, crying "Spyro!", he threw his arms around Spyro's neck.

"Oh, Spyro, I missed you, buddy!" Sparx exclaimed.

"What are you talking about?" Spyro asked, confused.

Sparx released him and flew back into Spyro's face. "It's me, buddy, it's me!" When Spyro just stared at him in bewilderment, Sparx flew around behind Spyro's head and, pushing him, urged, "Go on, touch the crystal, you'll remember everything!"

"Wait," said Spyro, turning to face his overjoyed friend. "_You_ were the reincarnation of-"

"_YES_!" cried Sparx, "_IT'S ME_! _I am Sparx THE Dragonfly_!" And he began to dance a small cha-cha in celebration.

Spyro stared at his old friend's joy and wondered…what would it be like, to be one of the all-powerful purple dragons of old? What would his memories be like? What would his _powers_ be like?

…What would _Cynder_ be like?

Slowly, very slowly, Spyro approached the crystal, until he was gazing closely at the face of the black dragon inside, his snout almost touching the crystal's surface. Who was she? What was she really like? It had been _her_ desperation, _her_ love for him, that had made this day possible. She had chosen to be frozen in time indefinitely, rather than live on in a world without him. Spyro's experiences with girls had been few and far between, but had left him with the general impression that females, especially female dragons, were silly and weak, with the few non-dragon exceptions that were his friends. Yet here was a contradiction to what he knew from experience. He had never before heard of a female dragon so passionate, so strong…He wanted to remember…

Slowly, barely even conscious of what he was doing, Spyro raised his right hand, and allowed his claws to gently come to rest on the surface of the crystal in which Cynder was frozen in time.

The effect was instantaneous. Power flowed into him - the entire crystal was concentrated energy, and it all poured into him at once. He was lifted up off the ground by the sheer force of it; everything rushed through his body. The onset was so powerful that Spyro instinctively tried to fight it for a moment, but he quickly got ahold of himself and opened himself to his past. His whole body burned with power, his mind filled with ancient memories and thoughts, and certain points on his body tingled strangely.

To Red and Sparx, it looked as though Spyro was cocooned in bright light, completely hidden by the shining envelope. This went on for several whole minutes, until finally, a blinding flash came from the spectacle, and the light faded.

Spyro slowly came to rest on the ground. He opened his eyes slowly, taking full stock of himself, mind and body. He looked at himself, and saw that he was larger and more sturdily built, and that his wings had become larger and could be furled and unfurled like Red's wings, and that they had small spikes at their peaks. He also noticed that the spike at the tip of his tail, which had been an oddity unique to him, had melted away, replaced by a fringed blade around the end of his tail, like most dragons had. Also, though he couldn't see it, the ridges that ran up his forehead and down his neck and back had been separated from each other, unlike the continuous ridge that had once dominated his head, and his horns, which had previously been ringed all along their lengths like screws, had smoothed out, so that there were only ridges where they bent. Most remarkably of all, though, was the fact that the changes didn't seem strange to him at all. He closed his eyes again, allowing his old memories to come back to him, and found that his new memories remained as well, which he had not anticipated, and for which he was grateful. He also recalled his mastery over the elements, feeling them course through his body, ready to be commanded.

He allowed everything in his mind and body to get settled back into place for a minute, then opened his eyes once more and saw Cynder lying on the ground, her eyes closed, the crystal gone. She did not stir.

Spyro immediately became concerned. "Cynder?" asked, nudging her gently. "Cynder, it's me, wake up. I'm back."

For a moment, she lay there unmoving, as though dead. Then, after a minute, she groaned softly. Eyes still closed, she moved her tail, then her hind legs, then her front legs, then her wings, and finally raised her head, all very slowly, as though she didn't expect movement to come. At last, she slowly opened her eyes and saw Spyro standing over her.

"Spyro!" she exclaimed joyfully. She jumped to her feet and unfurled her wings, wrapping them around Spyro's head and neck. "Oh, Spyro, I've been waiting for you for so long! I thought you'd never come!"

Spyro embraced her with his wings as well, being careful of the very spiky back of her head, and was about to ask her what she meant when Sparx flew over and said, "Our happy family is back together at last!"

Spyro and Cynder took a step back from each other, looking at one another in joy. Spyro opened his mouth again to ask Cynder what she had meant when she said that she'd thought he'd never come, when suddenly, unexpectedly, a cry of anguish rang out from behind them.


	6. Chapter 4: All Gifts Come With a Price

While Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx had been reuniting, Red had looked on with a strange feeling of triumph that he had been unable to understand.

_What stake do I have in all this?_ he had wondered, knowing that he should have been happy for the young dragons and finding that he was not. _Why do I feel as though I've been awaiting this day for a very different reason from that of the rest of the world's dragons?_

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he had noticed something on the ground nearby glint in the strange light that bathed the island. He had turned to look, and had found what had appeared to be a piece of the crystal in which Cynder had been frozen.

_This can't be right,_ he had thought. _That crystal was made of Spyro's spirit and life force - what's this one piece doing here unabsorbed?_

Curious, and somehow drawn by it, he had bent down to pick it up…

~o~

Spyro, Sparx, and Cynder turned to look at Red and saw that he was holding something. They couldn't tell what it was, though, because, like Spyro and Sparx had been, Red was being enveloped in a whorl of bright light. Unlike Spyro and Sparx, though, Red was clearly fighting it with everything he had. He held the object in his hand away from himself, and his expression was contorted in effort.

"Who is that?" asked Cynder. "He doesn't look like any dragon I've seen before."

"You and the rest of the world," Sparx commented. "He is weird-looking by all standards."

Spyro said nothing; the ominous feeling of dread that had been growing within him told him that whatever was happening to Red, it was what Spyro feared most, though Spyro didn't know exactly what that was.

Suddenly, Red managed to grind out a few words, his voice straining, as though he were working to move a heavy load…or hold some tremendous force at bay.

"S…Spy…ro…" he managed, "S…Sparx…Cyn…der…r…ru…n…run! _AAAARGH_!"

As Red cried out again, the whirlwind of light forced itself around him, engulfing him; his outline was barely visible.

Spyro and Cynder looked on, unable to understand what was happening. Sparx, however, even though he was also unable to understand what he was seeing, _was_, on the other hand, able to understand what he had _heard_.

"He said run. He said run! Let's get out of here!" he urged his friends.

"Where to?" asked Cynder. "I just woke up! I don't think I can fly!"

"Let's get inside!" Spyro responded. The three of them turned away from Red and ran to the doors of the island's great citadel, home to the Chronicler, but the doors didn't open. Instead, a strange, echoing voice spoke…a voice Spyro had heard before.

_Sacred Threshold,  
__Hallowed Ground.  
__Pathways unfold;  
__Lost is found.  
__Prove your worth  
__With quick desire;  
__Ice and Earth,  
__Electric…Fire…_

"You've got to be kidding me," Spyro mumbled; he had heard the same riddle when he had first come to the White Isle, and it involved using his powers against strange, living crystal orbs. Before he finished his sentence, however, the voice added a new stanza to the riddle, one Spyro had _not_ heard:

_And if you hold  
__Each other dear,  
__Add Shadow, Poison,  
__Wind, and Fear._

"What?" Spyro wondered out loud. It was clearly a new addition, as it wasn't as eloquent as the original; but somehow, that made it a bit more confusing.

"It's talking about me," Cynder said. "Those are _my_ elements. But, Spyro-"

She was cut short by the sudden appearance of four strange crystal orbs with metal legs that leapt out from behind the wall, just as they had the first time Spyro had come. Spyro didn't hesitate.

"Cynder, I need your help," he said quickly. "I'm going to fight these things. Once they're defeated, each of them will turn into simple crystal orbs. I need you to push those orbs into those slots along the wall before they disintegrate."

"Okay, but-" She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence before Spyro charged at the strange things. He defeated them one at a time in short order, and Cynder quickly moved the crystals into place. Then, Spyro quickly charged the crystals with his different elemental powers in the same order as he had done long ago.

Nothing happened.

The maelstrom of energy that was engulfing Red had begun to roar audibly as the force swept through Red's unwilling body.

"Why won't the doors open?!" Sparx exclaimed, afraid.

"I don't know!" Spyro called over the ever-increasing noise.

"Well, figure it out!" Sparx called back. "I don't think we have a lot of time!" As though to accentuate his remark, there was a rumbling _thud!_ as Red fell on all fours, his strenuous groaning just audible through the roar of magic. None of the company of three knew why, but there was something very ominous about what was happening to him.

"Spyro!" Cynder called. "Look! The crystals don't look fully charged!"

Spyro looked at the crystals and saw that she was right: the crystals hadn't turned a solid color according to the different elements they were charged with. Instead, each of them had a lacy pattern in their corresponding colors covering the surface, with white voids patterned evenly all over each of them.

"Do they need more power?!" Sparx asked.

"No," Spyro realized, turning to face the black form beside him, "they need _your_ power, Cynder!"

"What?!" she asked.

"That voice said to add your elements!" he answered. "Use them in the same order as mine - use Shadow on the Ice crystal, Poison on the Earth crystal, Wind on the Electric crystal, and Fear on the Fire crystal!"

"But-!" she began, only to be cut off by another one of Red's cries.

"Do it! Hurry!" Spyro urged her.

"What are you waiting for?! Get going!" Sparx yelled.

"But I-!" She was cut off again, this time by a rumble from were Red was struggling with some great force, like a clap of thunder.

"Okay!" she cried out, fearful, and she quickly charged the crystals with her powers in the corresponding order. The voids were filled with colors corresponding to Cynder's different elements, and as the light grew brighter and brighter behind them, the doors slowly rumbled open. The three quickly piled themselves inside as the light engulfing Red became blindingly bright. Then the doors thundered shut behind them, and suddenly, there was silence.

The three turned to face the closed doors. Finally, Sparx broke the silence (as usual).

"What was all _that_ about?" he asked, voicing the question that weighed on all of their minds.

"I don't know," Spyro said, "but I know that whatever it was, it was bad." They were silent for another moment.

"Come on," Spyro finally said, turning around, "we need to see the-"

He stopped short, realizing what was in front of him.

The main doors directly opposite the entrance were shut tight. Instead, four other sets of doors, two on each side of the room, stood open, though there appeared to be only darkness within each. Each of the open doorways was flanked by two tablets with glowing runes of different colors. One door was flanked by a tablet with deep-blue runes and a tablet with black runes (that were somehow glowing), another was flanked by a tablet with yellow runes and a tablet with blue-white runes, yet another by a tablet with rich green runes and a tablet with noxious-green runes, like the color of poison, and the fourth by a tablet with bright-red runes and a tablet with maroon runes.

"You've got to be kidding me," Spyro said again. He recognized the entrances: They were doors to Elemental Trials that would test the dragons' abilities at wielding their different elements. This time, however, the elements of Spyro and Cynder were clearly paired up, the same way as the crystals outside had been: Ice with Shadow, Electricity with Wind, Earth with Poison, and Fire with Fear.

"We're going to have to do all of this _again_?" Sparx exclaimed, far from happy.

"Yeah," Spyro said, not bothering to point out that Sparx didn't have to do anything, "but this time, Cynder has to contribute." He gestured toward her with his head. She turned to face him.

"Spyro, I-" she began, but Spyro acted as if she hadn't begun to speak.

"It looks like our elements have been paired up the same way they were outside." He turned to face Cynder. "Come on," he said.

"But Spyro-" Heedless of her voice, Spyro immediately walked toward the Fire/Fear Trial.

"Spyro, wait!" she cried, not moving.

At this, Spyro stopped and turned back towards her. "_What_?" he asked impatiently.

"I'm a _Wind_ Dragon!" she burst out, tears welling in her eyes.

For a moment, Spyro was still. Then, he walked back over to her, staring at her, not understanding her distress.

"What?" he finally asked.

"Spyro, while you've been gone, I've had a lot of time to think," Cynder said, stifling her tears, "and I realized-"

"Wait a minute," Spyro interrupted. "You mean you've been _conscious_ for the past five million years?"

"Has it only been five million?" Cynder asked seriously. "It felt like so much longer…"

"Oh, Cynder…" Spyro didn't know what to say to her.

"It's okay," she said, "you're here now. But, while you've been gone, I've thought about every moment of my life over and over again; I've had nothing else to do. After a while - I don't know how long - I realized the full implications of what the Chronicler told me about my powers. He'd said that most dragons can only master one element, but Malefor's influence gave me the power to master four. I realized that one of the elements I could control had to be the one that I was _born_ with, and the other three had to have come entirely from the Dark Master."

She paused, letting this sink in, hoping that Spyro would get it. He didn't.

"Don't you see?" she pressed, desperate to get the point across. "Shadow, Poison, and Fear - my ability to control _those_ elements had to have come from Malefor! I must have been meant to be a _Wind_ Dragon! That's the only element that doesn't fit with Malefor's nature!"

"So?" Spyro asked, still not understanding her protest.

"So, I don't _want_ the powers Malefor gave me!" she cried, tears rising again in her eyes. "I just want to have my one element, the one I'm _supposed_ to have, and never use Malefor's 'gifts' again! I want to be _normal_!"

Spyro was silent for a minute while Cynder struggled to get ahold of herself, choosing his words carefully before speaking.

He sighed. "Cynder…" he began slowly, "right before I left home, my dad said to me that-"

"Your _dragonfly_ dad?" Cynder asked with the barest hint of a smile.

"Yeah," Spyro said, smiling back, "my dragonfly dad. Anyhow…" He moved closer to her, trying to comfort her. "He told me that all gifts come with a price. He was warning me to be careful with my flame breath, but he was more right than he knew. And Cynder," he said, moving closer still as she raised her head to look him in the eye, "you've already paid your price for your gifts. What's important now is that you _have_ these gifts, and that they're _yours_, regardless of where they came from. They belong to _you_, and you can use them however you want to. You don't have to use them if you really don't want to, but you shouldn't try to pretend that they don't exist just because they came from the Dark Master. They're _yours_," he repeated, trying to get her to understand. "They're not his. You're not using _his_ power when you command Shadow, Poison, or Fear; you're using your _own_ power. These gifts you have are nothing to be ashamed or afraid of."

Cynder lowered her head and closed her eyes again. "I didn't _ask_ for this," she sobbed, fighting back a fresh wave of tears.

"I know you didn't, Cynder," Spyro said gently. "No one said you did. But you have it now, and it's yours to use. I mean, I didn't ask for my powers, either-"

"Do _not_ compare your powers to mine!" Cynder exploded suddenly, raising her head to glare at him. "_Your_ powers are natural! _Your_ powers didn't come from having been _evil_ at one time!" She said the word 'evil' with such emphasis and emotion that it was clear that _that_ was the core of the reason why she was objecting.

"Cynder, my powers come from me being a _purple_ dragon," Spyro said, taking a step back in surprise at her sudden outburst. "A _purple_ dragon, just like Malefor. Malefor had all the same powers that I have. What makes me different from him is how I choose to _use_ my powers."

"Look," Sparx interrupted insensitively, "this is interesting and all, and I'm sure you guys could argue about this all day, but shouldn't we get moving?"

Spyro didn't bother scolding his friend. Instead, he turned his body back toward the Fire/Fear Trial, his head still facing Cynder. "Come on," he said to her, "let's just get through these Trials. Once we're done, you won't have to use any element other than Wind again."

"Why do we even have to see the stupid Chronicler anyway?" she sobbed, her emotions far past the overflow point.

"Well, we can't really go back the way we came," Spyro pointed out. "Besides, we need to know what we're supposed to do next."

"Aren't you two supposed to have, like, a million kids or something?" Sparx asked bluntly.

"Sparx!" Spyro scolded, frowning at the glowing dragonfly.

"What?" Sparx shot back. "I'm just saying, if you two are supposed to be the mother and father of the dragon race…"

"What?" Cynder exclaimed, shock driving everything else from her mind. She looked at Sparx, then turned to look at Spyro somewhat accusingly.

"Er - long story," Spyro said quickly. "Come on, let's just get through here. I'll explain everything afterward, I promise."

"Define 'everything'," Cynder replied suspiciously, not moving.

"Cynder, a lot's changed while you've been frozen in that crystal," Spyro said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, like the whole world and everything in it," Sparx muttered loudly.

"Let's just get through here," Spyro repeated. "The Chronicler will help."

Cynder narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him, but finally started to move toward the Fire/Fear Trial. "Okay," she said, "but I'm not using any element other than Wind."

Spyro didn't bother to mention that she would probably have to. Instead, he said, "Alright. Let's do it!"

Together, they walked through the gates to the Fire/Fear Trial. Sparx, after crossing his arms with a "Humph!", followed them.

~o~

The Trial was different from how Spyro remembered it. It had been changed to test Cynder's mastery of Fear, as well as his own mastery of Fire.

When they were attacked by more weird crystal orb creatures, Cynder hung back, letting Spyro do the fighting, and pushed the crystal orbs into their slots. When Spyro charged them with Fire, nothing happened; the crystals were covered in the same lacy red pattern as before.

"Cynder, you need to-"

"I know, I know," she interrupted unhappily. She called upon a little of the element of Fear - as little as she could - and charged the crystals with her power. The magical blockade fell, and they continued on to the next section, which was different from before, where they were met by great red-and-maroon creatures that appeared to be made out of glowing crystals held together by lightning-bolts of magic.

"This is your area," Cynder said to Spyro.

"You got it," Spyro replied, and charged at the nearest of the creatures.

Cynder hung back with Sparx again, knowing that the creatures could probably only be affected by her use of the element of Fear. One of the monsters noticed her, however, and while Spyro was battling another creature, it approached her sluggishly. She didn't run, at first; it was moving slowly, dragging one of its arms, and she felt like Spyro would get to it before it got to her. She was wrong, however; Spyro hadn't noticed that one of the creatures had gotten past him, and he was currently busy engulfing another one of the creatures in flames.

The monster crept closer. Sparx, naturally, quickly buzzed away to a place far from _all_ of the creatures, but Cynder was cornered. In desperation, she sent a blast of magic at it from her mouth, meaning to blow it back with Wind, and was surprised when a powerful Siren Scream issued forth from her mouth instead, stopping and wounding the approaching creature.

Confused, she tried to focus her attention on the element of Wind, calling upon it with deliberation, and tried again to unleash it. Somehow, it wasn't a Cyclone, but another Siren Scream, that burst forth from her mouth.

_Oh, no,_ she thought as it dawned on her, _am I _only_ able to use Fear in here?_

Desperate, she tried hitting the creature as it continued toward her, but it blocked her with its arm, sending her tumbling backward. It slowly approached her, raising one of its arms to smash her like a club. She didn't know what to do; she didn't want to use Fear again, and her melee attacks seemed useless.

Fortunately, Spyro had heard her Siren Screams and attacked the monster from behind, launching it into the air with his horns, then hitting it in the air as it spun with the force of his blows, helpless. When both monster and dragon had landed again, Spyro issued forth a continuous stream of fire from his mouth. The creature shook and twitched, rendered helpless once again by the sheer force of Spyro's fire, until finally, it collapsed and disintegrated into a pile of gems.

Spyro took a moment to revel in the feeling of absorbing gem energy, which he had regained the ability to do, before approaching Cynder, who was frozen in a cowering position.

"Are you all right?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she said, panting, "but it would have been nice if you'd told me that I can _only_ use Fear in the Fear Trial!"

"I'm sorry," Spyro said sincerely. "I guess I didn't think of it."

"Why did we have to do the Fire and Fear Trial first, anyway?" she demanded, still trying to catch her breath. "Fear is the element I'm _least_ comfortable using!"

"Well, then, I guess it's a good thing we're getting it out of the way first," Spyro said in a look-on-the-bright-side tone of voice. "_I_ chose it because Fire is the element I'm _most_ comfortable using; it's been the one element I've had constant control over during the past few years."

"How come?" Cynder asked, curious despite herself.

"Well, Fire is the only element _anyone_ can use these days. It's part of that long story I mentioned," he added, seeing Cynder open her mouth to question him further.

"Okay…" she said slowly, "but…why Fire?"

"That's a good question," Spyro answered. "To be honest, I have no idea, but I've always been good with Fire, so I guess it's just as well."

"Okay…" Cynder repeated, uncertain.

"Can we get going now?" Sparx asked. "I don't like this place any more now than I did five million years ago."

"Yeah," Spyro said. "Come on, let's go."

Cynder followed him silently. They continued through the tests (which lasted much longer than before), Cynder lending a claw when she could and a magical charge when she had to, but otherwise doing nothing, until they came to the last stage before the final test. Spyro remembered having to light candles to activate a staircase of platforms that he could climb up, and had been anticipating it. This time, however, the pit was much wider, so wide that he couldn't see the other side. What he _did_ see was a single platform, barely large enough for two small dragons, with a rod standing erect on the left edge of it and a cluster of three candles standing on the right edge.

Cynder stood back as Spyro walked forward and lit the candles. The platform didn't move, but the strange rod released prongs that couldn't be mistaken: it was a tuning fork.

"Cynder," Spyro said, "you have to-"

"M-Maybe we can just fly across," Cynder said quickly, and jumped into the air before Spyro could reply. She flapped her wings, fell to let the air catch her, and landed hard on the ground, thankfully just before the edge of the cliff.

"I don't think we can fly here," Spyro said.

"Oh, ya think?" Sparx commented.

"Shut up, Sparx!" Cynder snapped.

Spyro sighed. "Cynder," he said gently, "you need to power this tuning fork with your Siren Scream. It's the only way to get across."

"There _has_ to be another way!" Cynder insisted.

"Well, if there is, I'm not seeing it," Sparx remarked.

"Spyro, I don't _want_ to!" Cynder cried.

"I know you don't, Cynder, but you have to," Spyro insisted. "This place was _meant_ to test your ability to control Fear, as well as my ability to control Fire."

She knew he had a point, but she stood where she was, unmoving.

"Come on," Spyro urged, "we're almost at the end! Once we're out of here, you won't have to use Fear again."

"Promise?" Cynder finally asked weakly.

"Promise," Spyro avowed.

"Fear of using Fear," Sparx said, bemused. "Huh. That's a new one."

Both dragons turned to glare at him.

"_What_?" Sparx said defensively. "I'm just saying…"

A faint metallic noise from behind them drew their attention back to the platform. The candles had gone out, and the prongs of the fork had withdrawn back into the rod.

"It's just like before: you have to do it quickly," Spyro said, more to himself than either of his companions. "Come on," he said, turning to address Cynder, "let's just get it over with."

"Great idea," Sparx said. "I'll go wait on the other side. You know, just stand guard, spot you guys if you fall, just, you know, whatever." And with that, Sparx buzzed across to the other side…which turned out to be so far away that Spyro and Cynder couldn't see his glow anymore.

"Lucky," Cynder muttered jealously.

Spyro re-lit the candles, and the prongs of the fork came out again. The two of them got onto the platform, situating themselves so Cynder could aim at the fork. Cynder hesitated another moment, then took a deep breath and released a Siren Scream at it. The platform finally started to move away from the edge of the abyss, but stopped and went back when Cynder stopped Screaming.

"I think you have to do it continuously," Spyro said.

"Great," she muttered, then took another breath and began again, this time releasing Scream after Scream consecutively, and the platform started to move again.

They were just able to make out Sparx's glow in the murky darkness when the candles went out. The tuning fork immediately stopped spinning, and the prongs retracted into the rod.

"Spyro, light the candles! Hurry!"

Spyro tried to do as Cynder said, but for some reason, the candles refused to re-ignite until they were all the way back where they started.

"I guess you have to get all the way while the candles are still lit," Spyro said apologetically.

Cynder sighed angrily, then resumed her string of Siren Screams. They hadn't gotten far when Cynder ran out of magic.

"Cynder?" Spyro asked.

"I need to recharge," Cynder said, frustrated.

To their surprise, the platform continued to move toward the other side for a few seconds before heading back. Neither of them bothered to question it, however, and Cynder went back up the path until she found a cluster of green crystals. She smashed them into gems, taking her frustration out on them, and when she had fully recharged her magic reserves, she went back to the chasm to try again.

They waited for the candles to go out, so they could get the maximum time out of them. Then they got back on the platform, Spyro re-lit the candles, and Cynder resumed her Siren Screams. This time, they got all the way to the point where _Sparx_ could see _them_, and then Cynder ran out of magic again. She was about to scream again, this time in frustration, when the platform _didn't_ immediately reverse its course. Somehow, the momentum of Cynder's magic was enough to carry them the rest of the way.

Spyro and Cynder gratefully jumped off the platform to the other side of the chasm.

"Well, it's about time," Sparx said by way of greeting. "What took you so long? Did'jya have trouble controlling your fear?" He chuckled at his own bad joke.

"Sparx, knock it off," Spyro told his friend, annoyed.

"Ohhh," Cynder groaned, "what now?"

Spyro turned to look in the direction she was looking and saw a glowing red platform.

"It's okay, it means we're almost out," Spyro said, trying to reassure her, and also surprised that the final test came so soon after the pit.

"Yeah," said Sparx, "all you gotta do now is fight some big freakish magical Element King, and you'll probably have to use that creepy Scream of yours to kill it."

"_WHAT_?" Cynder exclaimed, all of her frustration at having to use her least favorite element bursting forth with the word.

"The Elemental Kings are mostly immune to melee attacks," Spyro explained, trying to be gentle. "That way, they test _elemental_ mastery, see?"

Cynder was silent for a moment, seething.

"Look, this is the last thing we have to do in here," Spyro said. "I'll try to do as much of the fighting I can."

"But you'll probably have to contribute," Sparx added to Cynder bluntly. Ignoring the glares of the two dragons, he continued insensitively, "I don't get what your problem is. I mean, when you use Fear, you use a Siren Scream, right? That just, I don't know, it…it seems kind of fitting. I mean, you're pretty and strong and alluring to certain gullible purple dragons, when in reality you're a-"

"Sparx!" Spyro tried to cut him off.

"-creepy, evil she-demon," Sparx finished firmly.

"Sparx, would you quit it?!" Spyro exclaimed, walking over to yell in his companion's face, glaring. "You know perfectly well that Cynder isn't evil in the least! Why can't you just let it…"

He trailed off as he turned around and saw Cynder walk deliberately, eyes closed, head held high, onto the platform, where she vanished in a small flash of red light.

"…go," Spyro finished, stunned.

"Works every time," Sparx said, folding his arms smugly.

Spyro turned to look at Sparx, not understanding. "What?" he questioned, confused.

"It's called 'reverse psychology' or something," Sparx said. "You know, when you tell someone that they _can't_ do something so that they'll just try harder to prove that they _can_?"

"You were trying to help her," Spyro realized, amazed.

"Don't look so surprised, I'm not an idiot," Sparx said, crossing his arms, mildly insulted. "Come on, let's go help her so we can get outta here."

Spyro agreed, and they teleported after Cynder, somehow arriving in the last room at the same time as her. Sure enough, an enormous creature of magic and armor approached them, a spiked club in one hand, a spiked shield in the other.

Without hesitating, Spyro ran forward and blew fire at the monster…which immediately lowered its shield and blocked the attack. To Spyro's amazement, it seemed to be completely untouched by the flames. Spyro stopped breathing fire at it, trying to understand what he was doing wrong, and noticed that the monster's shield was maroon.

"Cynder!" Spyro exclaimed, running back to her. "You have to knock that shield away with your Siren Scream!"

"What?" she asked.

"It's like those Elite Enemies from back when we were fighting Malefor together," Spyro explained. "Unless you used the right element on one and knocked its helmet away, it's immune to all other attacks, remember?"

"Oh, yeah!" She ran up to the Fire-and-Fear King, which lowered its shield at her. She took a deep breath, and released…

…nothing.

"I'm out of magic!" she cried as she remembered.

"There's a green crystal over there," Spyro said, gesturing toward the far end of the room. "I'll hold him off!" With that, he went back up to the monster and resumed breathing flames at it. It wasn't hurt, but it _was_ distracted.

Cynder ran around the creature and found the cluster of green crystals, which she quickly smashed into gems. Then, she ran back and blasted a Siren Scream at the monster's lowered shield.

With a metallic _clang!_, the shield vanished, and the billowing flames issuing from Spyro's mouth got through. The effect was immediate and visible - pieces of the monster were blown off as it took damage. It wasn't long, however, before _Spyro_ ran out of magic.

In short order, the two traded off, Cynder destroying the creature's shield whenever it came back during a lull, and Spyro breathing fire at the exposed enemy. Finally, the Fire-and-Fear King fell and disappeared, and a platform lowered for them to jump onto. Two symbols that radiated from the center of the circular floor were illuminated, the outer one in bright red, the inner one in maroon. They were smaller than last time, but Spyro supposed that was to make it so there was enough room for two symbols instead of one.

Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx got on the platform and were returned to the main entryway, where the two tablets flanking the gate to the Fire/Fear Trial shattered and the doors closed. The Trial was done.

"Phew," Cynder breathed.

"Don't relax yet," Spyro told her. "We're going to have to do that three more times with the other elements."

"Well, at least I never have to use Fear again," Cynder replied.

"That's the spirit!" Sparx said. "Come on, let's do the next one!"

"Which one _is_ next?" Cynder asked Spyro.

"Well, I'm also pretty familiar with Ice from recent times," Spyro said. "Let's do Ice and Shadow next."

He started toward the gate when Cynder spoke suddenly.

"Oh, Spyro!" she said. "I've been wanting to ask you something."

"Yes?" he asked, turning back towards her.

She gestured at his Shadowstone. "What's that around your neck?" she asked.

"Oh! It's the Shadowstone," Spyro said by way of explanation. "It lets me travel to the Shadow Realm."

"The Shadow Realm?" Cynder asked, not understanding.

Spyro was about to explain further when Sparx said to her, "It's part of that long story we've been talking about." He turned to address Spyro. "And I still don't think it's a good idea for you to always be wearing that thing," he added.

"I didn't know you felt that way, Sparx," Spyro answered, surprised.

"Oh," Sparx said. "Yeah. I guess I forgot to mention it to you."

"_You_ forgot to mention something?" Cynder asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I haven't been talking as much these past couple decades," Sparx said. "Mostly because I _couldn't_ talk until just a few _years_ ago, and it's been even fewer years since I was able to talk clearly enough for people to understand. Even then, I've had to go 'buzz! buzz!' all the time."

"Why?" Cynder asked.

"It's a long story," Spyro said.

"The _same_ long story?" asked Cynder.

"Yeah," Spyro answered. "Now come on, let's get through these Trials."

The Ice/Shadow Trial was simple enough. Spyro had to use his Ice powers to freeze platforms across wide stretches of toxic liquid, and Cynder had to use her Shadow Strike to get through certain gates so she could open them from the other side. Spyro did most of the fighting, there were some crystals to charge, and the Ice-and-Shadow King was pretty much the same as the Fire-and-Fear King. They returned to the entryway, the Ice and Shadow tablets shattered, and the gate closed.

"Alright!" said Spyro. "We're half done!"

"And I only have to use one more evil element!" Cynder added.

"Speaking of which, we've got two choices left. Which one will it be, chief?" Sparx asked Spyro.

Spyro had been debating this in his mind for a while, and he vocalized his resulting train of thought.

"Well, I've also been pretty familiar with Electric Breath these past few years…" he said slowly.

"Let's do that one!" Cynder suggested eagerly. "I want to be able to help you more!"

"It's not that you haven't been _able_ to help more, it's just that you've been _choosing_ not to," Sparx mumbled, speaking quietly enough that the others could pretend that they didn't hear him.

"On the other hand, I think it might be better to get all of Cynder's 'evil elements' out of the way first," Spyro continued. "Besides, I don't like using Electricity too much; it's not easy to control."

"I'm not looking forward to using Poison," Cynder said. "I feel like I have better control of Poison than I do Wind, like it's more a _part_ of me than Wind is, and I don't like it."

"Well, maybe you're a _Poison_ Dragon," Sparx suggested seriously. "Let's ask the Chronicler when we see him. In the meantime, these Trials aren't going to complete themselves."

"Sparx is right. About the Trials, I mean," Spyro added quickly, seeing Cynder's expression. "Let's do Earth and Poison now, and get that over with."

"Okay," Cynder said reluctantly.

The Earth/Poison Trial was filled mostly with blockades: walls for Spyro to crash through as a wrecking boulder, rubble for him to clear away with his Earth Flail, and so on. There were also crystals that needed to be charged, but oddly, none of them seemed to need Cynder's contribution. At one point, however, Spyro cleared away rubble that was blocking the path, only to find an enormous tree in their way.

"How are we supposed to get past this?" he wondered aloud. "I don't think any of my Earth powers can move it - it's too big."

"Maybe Cynder should try poisoning it," Sparx suggested.

"Or maybe we could try to get around it somehow?" Cynder suggested hopefully.

"Now, Cynder," Sparx said sternly, crossing his arms, "remember the tuning fork."

"And the shadow gates," Spyro added, walking over to her. "You didn't have much of a problem with those. I thought you were getting better about this."

"I'm scared," she said faintly. "I…I don't want to be a Poison Dragon. I want to be a _Wind_ Dragon."

Spyro took a moment to glare at Sparx, who shrugged in reply.

"Cynder, just because you feel like Poison is more personal to you doesn't make you a Poison Dragon," Spyro said consolingly, turning to address her. "_I_ feel most connected with _Fire_, and _I'm_ not a _Fire_ Dragon."

"You're a _purple_ dragon," Cynder sniffed. "You're not _meant_ to have just one element."

"Oh, brother," Sparx muttered, "here we go again." He flew a few feet away, turning his back on them, having no desire to watch the waterworks.

"Cynder, remember what I said about your powers earlier," Spyro said, trying to reason with her. When she didn't answer, he went back to his other point. "You're right. I _am_ a purple dragon, and I'm _not_ meant for just one element, but that doesn't change the fact that I _do_ feel like I have a stronger bond with Fire than with any other element, and I'm still not a Fire Dragon. Look," he said, moving closer to her, "maybe you _are_ a Wind Dragon, but it just so _happens_ that you have a closer bond with Poison. It doesn't have to be all or none."

Cynder still remained silent, her eyes closed.

"Come on," Spyro urged gently, "just one Venom Shot. It doesn't even have to be very big."

Cynder took a deep breath. "…Okay," she said at last, and, calling up her elemental power - she didn't have to focus on one to get Poison in that area - she released a small burst of magic from her mouth.

A smallish-sized glob of venom was what came out. The glob landed just where the trunk of the tree met the roots, bubbling and giving off noxious puffs of green smoke. Suddenly, the spot of bubbling poison spread, down the roots, up and around the entire trunk, and all the way through the leaves, until it looked as though the tree itself was a towering hulk of boiling green acid. Then, the tree melted away, and the poison with it, until all that was left were a few small green bubbles where the tree had been.

Cynder stared at the open space in shock.

"…The poor tree," she finally managed.

"Don't worry, it probably wasn't a real tree," Spyro said reassuringly. "It was probably just a magical construction meant to test your ability to use Poison. Come on, we're almost out."

He pressed on, an amused Sparx and a very shell-shocked Cynder following in his wake.

When they got to the Earth-and-Poison King, they found a surprising contrast to the previous Elemental Kings. This one's shield had to be hit with _Spyro's_ power, but for some reason, none of Spyro's Earth spells managed to harm it at all.

Finally, Spyro said, "Cynder, you need to-"

"I don't _want_ to!" she cried before he could finish.

"I know, but you _have_ to, otherwise this thing will kill us!" Spyro replied urgently.

"Quit being a scaredy-cat, you big black _baby_!" Sparx snapped at her.

"Cynder, I promise, once we're done here, you'll never have to use Poison again, just like with Fear a little while ago! I _promise_!" Spyro repeated.

"But-" They both looked up to see the Earth-and-Poison King standing over them, about to hit both of them with its club.

"Aah!" cried Cynder, jumping away to the monster's right side.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Spyro at the same time, jumping to the monster's left.

The club came down heavily where the two of them had been standing.

"Cynder, remember, once we're out of here, we're going to do the Electricity and _Wind_ Trial!" Spyro called across the room. "You'll be able to use your _Wind_ element! I'll even let you lead! You can do most of that Trial! Just _help me kill this thing_!"

"Okay!" she cried, giving in to her fear of the monster they were facing. She took a breath…and lost herself in her element.

She felt Poison flow through her body, taking over her, filling her until it had to be released. With a roar, she struck the Earth-and-Poison King with a Scorpion Strike, immediately following up with an enormous glob of pure venom spewing from her mouth. As the terrible power grew stronger within her, she viciously, mercilessly attacked the monster, blasting pieces of it off itself, until it collapsed at her feet; she hadn't even once run out of magic.

The creature disintegrated, but neither Spyro nor Cynder moved to jump onto the lowered platform. Cynder stood where she was, poison actually flowing off of her body, squeezing her eyes closed, struggling to regain her senses, while Spyro and Sparx stared at her, amazed by the ferocity of her attacks.

"Wow," Sparx finally managed after several minutes. "That was…um…_scary_."

It was the worst thing he possibly could have said.

Cynder actually wailed, then collapsed into fits of sobbing, long-restrained tears finally flowing from her eyes.

"Cynder, don't cry!" Spyro exclaimed, running over to her.

"Spyro, wait!" Sparx called, not moving from his spot far away from Cynder. "She might still be crazy!"

Spyro ignored his friend and ran right up to Cynder's huddled form; she was actually on the floor, weeping uncontrollably.

Spyro nudged her gently. "Cynder, it's okay," he said consolingly.

"I'm a Poison Dragon," she sobbed miserably. "I knew it. I _knew_ it!" She sniffed. "The one not-evil element I have power over came from Malefor. I can never be good! Never!" She wailed again and resumed crying.

Standing over her, Spyro's heart felt as though it were being repeatedly smashed by a giant Gnorc's club.

"Cynder…you don't know that," he began.

"I am! _I AM_!" she cried out, her voice filled with pain.

"Cynder…" He chose his words carefully, knowing that they could make or break her at that moment. "Cynder, even if you are, that doesn't mean you can't be good-"

"Get away from me!" she sobbed forcefully. "Just go! Leave me here!"

"No," Spyro said sternly. "I'm not leaving you here. I'm not leaving you anywhere. I'm never going to leave you again, not even if my life depends on it."

She opened her eyes and lifted her head slightly, looking up at him, pain, uncertainty, and wonder in her eyes. "Why not?" she hiccuped.

"Because…" He hesitated a minute, then sighed and answered, "Because…I love you, Cynder."

Sparx rolled his eyes and looked away, irritated. Did they have to do this _now_?

"I love you," Spyro repeated, watching Cynder's eyes fill with hope, "and I couldn't care less what your natural element is. You could be a Shadow Dragon or a Fear Dragon for all I care. What matters to me, and what should be the only thing that matters to you or anyone else, is _who_ you are, and how you feel about what's right and wrong. You have a good heart, and that's all I care about."

Cynder got to her feet, looking at him in wonder, unable to speak.

"Come on," Spyro said, gesturing to the platform that had been lowered in the middle of the room. "Let's do that last Trial. You can use Wind there."

"But…I'm not supposed to…" she said softly, only half believing her own words.

"It doesn't matter if you are or not," Spyro told her firmly. "Besides, who's to say what you are and aren't _supposed_ to do?"

"Okay," she breathed. They jumped onto the platform together, and Sparx followed.

~o~

Sparx was still grumpy when they finally got to the Electricity/Wind Trial. In fact, before the three of them entered the Trial, he had commented,

"Why don't you two _lovebirds_ go shoot magic out of your faces and blow stuff up, and I'll wait here so you can take your time?" He had said 'lovebirds' like he would say 'Gnorcs' or 'slugs'.

"Okay, Sparx, if you really want to wait in here all alone…" Spyro had replied, unfazed. Sparx, of course, had had to follow them.

Spyro hung back this time.

"Cynder, this one's yours," he said.

"Don't mind if I do," Cynder replied happily, charging into battle.

Using Wind made Cynder feel happy. It didn't consume her the way Poison did, but it made her feel good…it made her feel _free_. There was something liberating about turning into a Twister, whirling around and whipping foes in the air, and something empowering about trapping foes in a pocket of wind and hurling them around like a mace.

Spyro, watching her battle with the full force of her element, was amazed; he'd never had time to just sit back and watch her use her powers, and the force she commanded when she used her Wind power was…awesome. There was no other word for it.

After clearing a section of the path of crystal enemies with ease, Cynder took a moment to just stand there, reveling in her own power.

"Okay," Sparx admitted, "that was _really_ cool!"

"Thanks," Cynder answered, turning to her audience with a smile.

"Cynder, that was _amazing_!" Spyro exclaimed, running up to her. "Wow! Could you teach me how to do that?"

"Could I do _what_?" she answered, raising a metaphorical eyebrow.

"Well, I mean…" Spyro stammered, suddenly self-conscious, "you know…since, well, since I'm a purple dragon, I just figured…I mean, I should be able to…you know…use Wind, too, and…well…that was just so cool, I…I mean, I'd like to-"

Cynder mercifully cut him off. "Tell you what," she said teasingly, "I'll teach _you_ how to use Wind, if you'll teach _me_ how to use Fire."

"But that's not fair!" Spyro protested. "_You're_ not a purple dragon _or_ a Fire Dragon!"

"Then find yourself another teacher, 'cuz this one's _mine_!" she replied triumphantly, and with that, she eagerly ran ahead.

Sparx floated up next to Spyro. "Wow," he commented, "she really is in _her_ element."

"Yeah, yeah," Spyro muttered.

The rest of the Electricity/Wind Trial was rather more complex than the previous Trials, there being all sorts of puzzles that could employ Electricity _and_ Wind. The Electricity-and-Wind King's shield _and_ body were vulnerable to _both_ elements, so the two dragons took care of it with ease.

Finally, the three companions stood in the main entryway of the island citadel, all the Trials completed.

"Whew," Spyro said. "Now, at last, we can talk to the-" He stopped short when he saw the platform in the middle of the room glowing brightly.

"Oh, no," Sparx said, as exasperated as the rest of them, "not this again!"

As if in answer to his exclamation, the voice from outside spoke again. This time, the riddle was a variation on the one Spyro had heard the last time:

_Expose your hearts  
__To summon Ghost,  
__Then face, as one,  
__What you fear most._

"What the - That's not the same as last time!" Sparx spluttered.

"What does that mean?" Cynder asked. "Are we going to have to work together to fight our separate fears or something?"

"Or maybe," Spyro said, a feeling of foreboding growing in him, "we all have the same greatest fear."

"What?" Cynder asked.

"I don't like this," Spyro said, turning to his friends. "Back outside, when Red was…changing, or whatever was happening to him, I got this feeling, like whatever it was, it was _my_ greatest fear coming true."

"What's that?" asked Cynder.

"I don't know, and I don't want to," Spyro answered, "but if I step on that platform…"

"You _will_ find out," Cynder finished.

"Yeah," Spyro said. He paused for a minute, then started walking back toward the entrance. "Come on, maybe we should go-"

"Ohh, no you don't!" Cynder interrupted, running ahead of him and cutting him off. "I have gone through all of these _stupid_ Trials, doing exactly what I'd promised myself I _wouldn't_ do when I woke up, all because _you_ wanted to see the stupid Chronicler, and you think we're going to just walk away _now_ because _you_ want to? Guess again!" As she spoke, she advanced toward Spyro, menacing in her anger, forcing him to walk backward toward the center of the room.

"Cynder, I…I'm scared," Spyro replied weakly.

"So was I!" Cynder pointed out. "But no, _me_ being afraid isn't _nearly_ as big of a deal as _you_ being afraid, is that it?!"

"Cynder, I'm not saying-"

"No, _we_ are going to do this thing, whether _you_ like it or not, because _you_ have been making _me_ do what _I_ haven't wanted to do for the past couple of hours!" she shouted in his face, furious.

"But, Cynder, this isn't just _my_ greatest fear," protested Spyro, "it's _yours_, too!"

"I've already _faced_ my greatest fears in this stupid place!" she responded angrily. "Now it's _your_ turn, and _you_ are going to do it, seeing as how _you_ made _me_ do the same thing! And that means you too, Sparx!" she turned to shout behind her at the glowing bug that was fighting with all his strength not to laugh. While she had been talking this time, _Spyro_ had been taking steps back, trying to get a safe distance away from her rage, and _Cynder_ had been walking in pursuit of him, so that Spyro was on the very edge of the platform.

Sparx shrugged at Cynder's last statement, then buzzed over to hover over the middle of the platform, ready to go (for once).

"Cynder-" Spyro began pleadingly, but she cut him off.

"Oh, is the big special dragon _scared_?" she asked mockingly. "Is the mighty, all-powerful purple dragon _afraid_ of the scary old island?"

"Hey, hey, did _I_ ever mock _you_ for being scared?" Spyro demanded as her taunts touched a nerve.

"No, you professed your undying love to her, which was _beautiful_, by the way." Sparx answered Spyro's question with a hint of sarcasm.

"No," Cynder answered Spyro, ignoring Sparx, "Sparx did that for you."

"Alright, alright, break it up," Sparx said, flying between them, having had his fill of entertainment from Cynder's admonishments. "We have to do this thing, and we all know it. Let's just go. Seriously."

Both dragons stared at him for a moment. Then, Spyro sighed, turned around, and jumped onto the platform. Cynder jumped up beside him, and Sparx moved into position between them. With a low flash, they were transported to a celestial arena.

Sure enough, a giant creature began to form out of their elements in front of them. At first, it seemed like last time; the monster was clearly a dragon. But, as its formation progressed, it became clear that it was _not_ the form of Cynder when she was evil. It was more sinister, more masculine, more…

…_familiar_.

"Malefor?!" exclaimed Cynder in surprise.

"_Aah_!" Sparx cried in terror.

"Oh, no," Spyro said softly.

The creature that resembled Malefor looked at the three of them with glowing, vicious eyes. It was covered with the same lacy pattern, blue at that moment, as the elemental crystals in the riddle and Trials had been, with the voids filled in with black: Ice and Shadow.

"Cynder, that thing will only be affected by the elements it's colored like," Spyro told her.

"But…you promised!" Cynder cried out.

"I'll take care of it when I can use Earth, Ice, or Fire, and you can take a shot when you can use Wind," Spyro said.

Cynder didn't have time to answer before the creature charged at them, though she was going to say "Okay."

Working together, they fought the creature, and eventually, it fell. The celestial arena dissipated, and the three of them were back in the main entryway, where the doors to the Chronicler's room opened.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," Sparx said.

"Says the dragonfly that did _nothing_," Cynder shot at him.

"Hey, that thing was attacking you guys, not me," Sparx answered with a shrug.

"Guys, I don't _like_ this," Spyro said to them. "If Malefor's return is our greatest fear, then…" He turned to look at the entrance, through the doors of which was Red. "What was happening to Red outside?"

"His name's Red?" asked Cynder, noticing this for the first time.

"Yeah," Sparx answered her shortly. Then, turning to Spyro, he said, "Come on, let's go ask the Chronicler."

"I _am_ looking forward to meeting this guy, after all we've gone through to get to him," Cynder commented.

"Right," said Spyro, nodding.

Together, they walked through the doors.


	7. Chapter 5: The Dragon Returns

While Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx were fighting their way through the Elemental Trials of the Chronicler's lair, Red had been fighting to keep a powerful consciousness from overtaking him.

He had fallen to all fours just a few minutes before Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx had gotten through the door. He remained there, grunting with effort, as light whirled around him, trying to get through.

_Let me in,_ said a strange voice. _This is _your_ destiny._

_No,_ Red answered, _I'm not going to let you hurt them!_

_You don't have a choice,_ the voice replied smoothly. _This is why you were born the way you are; strange, freakish…_malformed_._

_I am my own dragon!_ Red protested adamantly. I_ choose what happens to me and my body. I will _not_ let you take me!_

_But I _am_ you,_ the voice answered. You_ are a reincarnation, too._

_No!_ Red shot back. _I am _not_ you! I have my _own_ will! I made my choice! If ever you and I were one, those days are over!_

_Just give in,_ the voice coaxed. _If you don't, I'll have to take you by force._

_Come and get me, then!_ Red replied. _I will _never_ be the same as you!_

_As you wish,_ the voice answered, sounding reluctant but really not caring.

The energy that was trying to enter Red's body doubled its force.

"Aargh!" Red cried out at the fresh assault.

_Don't fight it!_ said the voice.

_You had your time,_ Red told it angrily. _You _had_ your chance to have your way. You lost. It's over. Now leave me alone!_

_It is _not_ over!_ the voice replied, the mental sound becoming more twisted and harsh as it grew angry. _As long as those who destroyed me live, it will _never_ be over! I _will_ have my revenge! _I WILL destroy them_!_

As it grew angrier, the force battered harder and harder against Red's body and mind. It entered Red's tail, spreading up through his hind legs, up to his shoulders, all of which twisted so that being on all fours was the natural position of his body, up his neck, which became unbent and strong…

"Aargh! _Aaargh_! _Noooo_!" Red cried aloud.

_You are mine!_ raged the voice.

_Never!_ cried Red. _I will never be yours!_ As he spoke, he gave the force spreading through his body a mental shove, pushing it back out of him, though very little of it gave way.

_It's over,_ the voice said to him as he continued to push with all his will. _Accept your destiny now, and I will disassociate your mind from mine; you will be free to join the Ancestors unburdened by me._

Red knew that he would eventually be overrun, but he held out a minute longer before saying in defeat, _Okay._

As he was driven from his body by the new host mind, Red quickly prayed in his own mind:

_Dear Ancestors, please give Spyro the strength to overcome this beast…again._

The force finally flooded through his body, driving him out completely, so that the body was no longer his. The energy spread throughout it; the chest grew to make the body that of a dragon of old, the wings became massive, the top of the snout grew to almost overcome the underbite, a set of white teeth grew behind the flesh-colored fangs of the lower jaw, the ridges down the back vanished, replaced by pairs of long spikes that jutted out from either side of the back, two long spikes like the ones along the back sprouted from each of the shoulders, the two curvy horns uncurled at the tips and were joined by a third in the middle plus two curved ones coming from the back of the neck, flesh-colored horns grew to form a starburst pattern around the eyes, the triangle tip of the tail became a strangely shaped blade, and finally, with a blast that completed the change, everything fell into place, and the scales turned…

…purple.


	8. Chapter 6: Love in the Midst of Chaos

Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx approached the entrance to the Chronicler's room slowly, uncertain. When they were at the threshold, Spyro called,

"Chronicler? Are you here?"

There was no answer.

They looked at each other, unsure. None of them spoke. After a moment, they went inside.

The doors rumbled shut behind them.

They all turned around in surprise.

"We're locked in?" Cynder exclaimed. "Why?"

"Because even this deep into my home, I can only offer you limited safety," said a voice that they all recognized.

They turned around in disbelief as the Chronicler hobbled into view from behind the giant hourglass at the center of the room. It wasn't the Chronicler that Spyro had met over five million years ago, though; it was someone much more familiar.

"_Ignitus_?" the three cried simultaneously in surprise.

"I am called that no longer," the dragon replied with a warm smile, "but yes, it's me…and I've been waiting for so long to see you all again."

"Ignitus!" Spyro cried again, this time joyfully, and he ran to his old friend and threw his entire upper body around the ancient dragon's left arm.

"Oof!" the Chronicler exclaimed upon impact, nearly knocked onto his knees by the blow. "Careful now, young dragon; I'm happy to see you again, too, but I'm not as strong as I was the last time we spoke!"

"I thought you guys said Ignitus died!" Sparx said to Cynder reproachfully.

"I did," said the Chronicler; "that's how the previous Chronicler was able to pass his time-keeping duties on to me."

Spyro looked up at his mentor and friend in wonder and saw that Ignitus was, indeed, not as strong as he had been. He had turned a mottled black-and-white, the same colors as the previous Chronicler, and he had the same old, tattered look about him. He was also wearing the same blue, tattered clothing of the previous Chronicler, and he had the same large, blue crystal around his neck. Still, he was unmistakably Ignitus.

Anticipating Spyro's question, the Chronicler explained, "Young dragon, each and every Chronicler that has ever been master of this hall has been a dragon whose time has passed, and whom the previous Chronicler saw as worthy of taking on the great responsibility, at the dawn of a new age."

"Wait," Cynder said, her mind starting to work again, "what do you mean, you can only offer us limited safety? I mean," she added quickly, "I'm really glad to see you again, but…"

"Peace, my dear child, I am not offended," the Chronicler reassured her. He hobbled over to where she and Sparx remained, Spyro following beside him. "As for what I said, even here, you are not safe, though I would not have it this way."

"What's wrong, Ignitus?" Spyro asked him.

"Young dragon, I am Ignitus no longer," the Chronicler said gently, turning to the small purple dragon, "and I mean that what you fear has, indeed, come to pass; your return to the world has been accompanied by the return of one other."

"Malefor?" Spyro asked.

The Chronicler nodded affirmatively. "Yes," he said, "and we haven't much time; he will be slowed by the magic of the gates, but he will break through eventually."

"Wait," Sparx said, "you mean _Red_ was the reincarnation of _Malefor_?"

"Yes and no," the Chronicler replied. "Red has admirably separated himself from the being from which he originated; he is his own dragon now. Sadly, he has passed on, and Malefor has taken his place."

"How do you know that?" asked Cynder.

The Chronicler gestured toward the many books on the shelves that lined the walls. "I've been keeping an eye on him through his book while I waited for you."

"Oh yeah, you keep track of everything in here," Cynder said as she remembered what Spyro had told her long ago. "Sorry. I guess I forgot."

"It's quite alright, dear child," the Chronicler told her warmly.

"Why _did_ you make us go through the Elemental Trials, anyway?" asked Cynder.

"Here's a better question: How is it that Malefor managed to come back?" asked Sparx.

"Well, Cynder, you and Spyro needed to get re-accustomed to using your powers, and the Elemental Trials were conveniently set up already by my predecessor. As for your question, Sparx…" he sighed.

"Well, there's a long story behind that," the Chronicler said after a minute, "as are the other stories I need to tell you; especially you, Cynder," he added, facing her. "But first things come first, as I'm not sure how much time we have; I have some things to give to each of you."

"Yay, presents!" Sparx exclaimed as the Chronicler turned around and hobbled back to the other side of the room.

"Yes," said the Chronicler, chuckling as he went, "presents, though you might not like one of them."

"Why would you give us a present we won't like?" asked Sparx, crossing his arms.

"Sparx!" Spyro exclaimed at his friend.

"Because," the Chronicler answered, limping back over to them, "I am the only one who can, and this is the only time I can give it. Besides, small friend, it is not for you." He continued slowly over to them, some things clutched in his right hand, which he held aloft from the ground. They couldn't see most of what he held, but what they _could_ see was a beautiful silver Dragon Amulet, set with a yellow gem, the chain two continuous pieces of metal that had been beaten out to look like curved knife blades.

"This is for you, Cynder," the Chronicler said as he reached them. "I made you this, as you are a female dragon, and this is, in a sense, your birthday."

"But she doesn't need one," Spyro said. "She's one of the dragons of old."

"I know that," replied the Chronicler, "but Cynder is a very special dragon, and I thought it would be good to give her something that would make her feel more secure in life." He put down the other objects he held behind him, so that they were hidden from view, and then, flapping his wings gently to hold himself up, he raised the Amulet with both hands and fastened it around Cynder's neck.

"There you are, my dear child," the Chronicler said, gently lowering himself back to the ground. "That Amulet should help you think things through without doubting yourself."

"Thank you," she said, gazing into the gem's comforting glow, her mind already more at ease, "but please, tell me so I'll know: Am I a Wind Dragon?"

The Chronicler bent down and brushed the tip of his snout against the strange pattern on Cynder's forehead and said, "Of course you are, my child. Poison, Fear, and Shadow are not elements that any dragon is born with naturally; they are dark arts, as you yourself have surmised."

"But then, why does Poison come so naturally to me?" Cynder asked, looking up at him, filling with hope despite her argument.

"You must understand, Cynder, that Poison is the first element you were exposed to when you hatched; the terrible, poisonous influence of the Dark Master," the Chronicler explained. "Make no mistake, that _is_ a form of Poison, and having been so intimately familiar with it at birth, your bond with the element is unnaturally strong. Nonetheless, you _are_ a Wind Dragon, and you should never doubt that."

Cynder, overjoyed at this revelation, was unable to speak.

"For you, Sparx," the Chronicler continued, picking up one of the items he'd set down and presenting it to the glowing dragonfly, "I constructed this."

"What is it? Oh, very funny," Sparx commented sarcastically after floating over and seeing what the Chronicler was holding. "A butterfly. Thanks a lot."

"Not just a butterfly, my glowing friend," the Chronicler replied, not as offended as any of them would have expected of Ignitus; "this is imbued with a power to reward you for taking so many hits for Spyro over the past decade. I made it in the form of a butterfly because you are used to eating them."

"O-_kaaaaay_…" Sparx said uncertainly, picking it up. He looked at it for a minute, and had to admit that he'd never seen another butterfly like it in all his days of eating butterflies, even powerup butterflies. It was violet - he'd never seen a _violet_ butterfly before - and it glittered in the light, as though it were covered in diamond dust. He hesitated another moment, then, with a why-not? shrug, he stuffed it in his mouth and chewed.

"Hey," he said after he swallowed it, "this is pretty good-_whoa_!"

A ripple of energy coursed through his tiny body, causing his light to flash brightly. A moment later, he was back to normal.

"Okay…what did that do?" Sparx asked.

"Try throwing your light," the Chronicler suggested.

"Throwing my light," Sparx repeated. "Right. Um…let's see…hi-_yah_!" he cried, making a throwing motion at Cynder. To his surprise, a small orb of yellow light flew out of his hand and hit Cynder's shoulder with a _pop!_ that was accompanied by a tiny explosion.

"_Ow_!" she exclaimed, flinching.

"Ow?" Sparx repeated, chuckling. "Seriously? _Ow_? You mean that actually hurt?"

"Yeah, it stung a little," Cynder said, amazed; her _ow!_ had been more in surprise than actual pain.

Sparx turned to the Chronicler, who produced a red gem from inside his tattered cloak and handed it to Cynder. "Here," he said, "use this."

As much to her surprise as everyone else's, she absorbed it, and felt a noticeable difference that everyone could see.

"Wait," Sparx said, amazed, "you mean I actually _hurt_ her?"

"As I said, I thought you'd like a reward for being a living shield for so long," the Chronicler said to him by way of answering. "Now be _careful_ with that! Don't make me regret giving it to you!"

"How long will I be able to do that?" asked Sparx.

"For the rest of your life," the Chronicler answered.

"Sweet!" Sparx said. "Thanks, old man!"

"You're welcome," the Chronicler replied. "And now, for the gift I doubt any of you will appreciate for some time." He turned back to where he'd set down the objects, picked them up, and held them out to Spyro and Cynder somewhat reluctantly.

"What are those?" Cynder asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes at the Chronicler.

"Ignitus?" Spyro asked, rendered all but speechless. "W-Wh-What the - _why_?"

"Are you kidding me?" Sparx asked, laughter rising in his throat. "Seriously?"

"Please understand," the Chronicler responded to them apologetically, "I wouldn't give these to you now if I had a choice, but it can't wait! There won't be another time!"

Sparx couldn't contain himself; he laughed, hard and loud.

"Oh, this is too good!" he howled. "_Too_ good! We came all this way, fighting monsters and solving puzzles, for _this_! A-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

Spyro and Cynder looked from the objects the Chronicler was holding to each other, then quickly looked in opposite directions, then turned their gaze back to the objects, then up at the Chronicler, then back down to the objects again.

"You're really gonna make us do this, aren't you?" Cynder said resignedly.

"I _am_ sorry, I truly am, but this is the only opportunity you'll ever have," the Chronicler answered. "I'm the only one left in the world who can do this for you, and my time is coming to an end."

"What do you mean?" Spyro asked, concerned despite his confused apprehension.

"I'll explain that later," replied the Chronicler, "but right now, please, you have to take these. I'll try to make it as easy as possible for the both of you." He turned to Sparx. "Sparx, if you'd rather not be a part of this, you can go over there and practice throwing in the meantime." He gestured toward the other end of the room, behind the giant hourglass.

"Don't mind if I do," Sparx said happily. On his way by, he said to Spyro and Cynder, "Sucks to be you guys! Have fun with that!" Then he buzzed away, chuckling.

"Here I thought there was a reason you always call Spyro 'young dragon'," Cynder muttered loudly.

"Yeah, and why you've been calling Cynder 'dear child'," Spyro added.

"You _are_ young, I know, but there won't be anyone to do this for you when you're older, so please, just _take_ them!" the Chronicler said, getting frustrated.

"Well," Cynder said slowly. "I guess we _would_ do this when we're older anyway, so…which one's whose?" she asked, resigned.

"If you could take the silver one and Spyro could take the gold one, that would be good," answered the Chronicler. "Don't put them on, though; that's for later."

Reluctantly, Spyro picked up the small gold ring set with an amethyst that the Chronicler held, while Cynder took the silver ring set with a ruby.

_I can't believe this,_ Sparx thought, peeking at them from behind the hourglass. _This is even better than when they were tied together by Malefor's snake charms! They're actually getting _married_!_

The Chronicler did his best to make the ceremony as quick and painless as possible for the two young dragons, using the shorthand version of everything he was required to say. Sparx watched them from behind the hourglass, unable to resist, trying to laugh as quietly as possible throughout the whole thing; all three dragons were too distracted to hear him. Finally, they came to the last step.

"Put the rings you hold on one another at the _same_ time, and seal the bond you two will share until the _end_ of time," the Chronicler said.

"What?" Spyro asked. "But purple and gold are _my_ colors, and red and silver are _Cynder's_ colors."

"That's the point," the Chronicler replied simply.

"Okay…" Spyro said under his breath, turning to Cynder. Awkwardly, the two managed to hold themselves up by their wings as they each put the rings on each other's left hands. Almost instantly, the rings shrank to fit snugly on their claws.

"And so, it is done," the Chronicler said with finality. "Spyro, Cynder, you shall be together forever."

"Glad that's over with," Cynder said.

"Me too," Spyro agreed, then he turned to address the Chronicler. "Now please, tell us: why did you have to do this _now_?"

The Chronicler sighed. "Because," he answered, "very soon, I will have no choice but to pass on my duties as the Keeper of Time, and go on to join the Ancestors."

"But there aren't any dragons of old for you to pass it on to," Spyro protested.

"So long as a drop of the old blood runs through his veins, it will be enough for my successor to be able to accept this position," the Chronicler replied. "As I said, I will have no choice."

"But…" Spyro was upset; he'd only just been reunited with his mentor, and he couldn't believe that he was about to lose him again.

"There will be time for you to understand," the Chronicler told him. "In the meantime, there are stories that need to be told, and questions that need to be answered, before you three can go to face what you must do. You can come out now, Sparx," the Chronicler added, not turning his head. Sparx buzzed out from behind the giant hourglass.

"How much of that did you watch?" Spyro demanded of his friend.

"Um…" Sparx answered sheepishly.

"Never mind," Spyro said, shaking his head.

"How about you guys tell me what's been going on in the world?" Cynder demanded of Spyro, Sparx, and the Chronicler. "I keep hearing that it's a long story, but I'd like to know, because it sounds like everything's changed."

"Everything _has_ changed," the Chronicler told her, "and I intend to begin with that story."


	9. Chapter 7: The Story Revealed

"I shall begin with the moment after you were voluntarily frozen in time," the Chronicler began. "You see, after you and Spyro had been taken care of, the dragons gathered from around the world to take stock of how many dragons had died in the war, and how many were left.

"When everyone had gathered, it was discovered that there were no more female dragons; they had all died, either in battle or in the Destroyer's destruction of the world. There were no more eggs to be found, either; the Year of the Dragon had ended ten years before. Without you, Cynder, there was no hope for the dragon race…or, so they thought.

"My predecessor, the previous Chronicler, had passed on his duties to me the moment that Spyro had reversed the Destroyer's work, as it marked the beginning of a new age. Therefore, as it had become my duty to maintain the balance of nature and the continuation of the dragon race, it fell to me to find a way for the dragons to continue to live until Spyro's return. With the new powers vested in me, I was able to take the power of the gems, as well as some of the life force of every remaining dragon, and create a new breed of dragon, one that was to be the merest shadow of what we had once been. It is this type of dragon that has ruled the worlds ever since.

"Today's dragons do not look like the dragons you've seen. They stand on their hind legs, their wings are fixed in an outspread position, and they are visibly not as strong as dragons used to be. They also have very little elemental power, and even less magic. Today's Guardians, known as Elders, are nothing compared to even the weakest of the dragons of old.

"As I had once been Master of Fire, I _was_ able to give the new dragons some modicum of control over that element, but no other. Still, the new dragons were so helpless compared to what we once were that they had to join forces with two other species to remain strong enough to rule the worlds. Sparx here was able to facilitate the forming of a pact between the races of dragons and dragonflies; just as he had once been Spyro's partner in all things, so too would each dragon be able to have a dragonfly partner of his or her very own. Unlike the bond of mere friendship between Sparx and Spyro, however, each dragon's bond to his or her dragonfly was to be magically enforced, and the dragonflies, being stronger than the new breed of dragons, would be able to combine their own life force with that of their dragon and take hits from enemies in the place of their dragon partners. Few dragonflies could take more than three blows before their bodies were destroyed, but the spell would keep their spirits bound to their dragons until such a time as they could be restored. For many centuries, this restoration would have to be done by a fairy, as neither the dragons nor the dragonflies had the ability to absorb the energy of gems any longer. Eventually, however, the evolution of the Beast Makers Clan, a group of dragons who are able to use their minimal magical powers to create new, albeit weak, species of creatures, managed to create many, many species of small, defenseless animals that would turn into butterflies upon being struck by any sort of significant force; these butterflies were made so that they would be able to restore the dragonflies' bodies and health. These small creatures now abound throughout the entire world, even in places where dragons have never lived.

"The magical pact binding the two races was more powerful than I could have predicted, though, and the dragonflies, like the dragons, were reduced to feeble imitations of their former selves. Today's dragonflies are little more than sticks with wings, eyes, and a mouth, though they have grown some since Spyro was born; they now have actual heads and antennae, and can actually speak comprehensively, which is very new. They still, however, have no arms. Sparx here was also like that until he was restored by the power trapped in the crystal you were sealed inside of.

"Also, the fairies of the world joined forces with the dragons, entirely of their own accord. They are very helpful to the dragons in many ways, and Spyro has much to be grateful for on their behalf.

"At first, there was also a third means of strength to be provided to the dragons: Like the Time Crystal I wear around my neck, Dragon Amulets were made, which provided dragons with extra strength or special abilities. The practice was quickly abandoned due to its complexity and the fact that only the dragons of old were able to make them, and it has only recently been revived, though the new Dragon Amulets are not nearly as powerful as the ancient ones. The Shadowstone that Spyro wears is one of the old Amulets, and allows for passage into the Shadow Realm, which is a strange, twisted version of the world, on the other side of ours. Spyro is the first dragon since the end of the Great Era to be strong enough to use it.

"I do not mean by all this that the past five million years have been without their advancements in magic and technology. The dragons of today, being far weaker than what we once were, but of no less wit and cleverness, have found and produced incredible means of getting around their new shortcomings. For instance, throughout the world, there are many places that are far away from each other, but brought close by means of magical dragon portals that instantly transport any creature from one specific place to another. These were constructed because the new breed of dragons are generally too weak to make the trip by air. And, as I said before, the Beast Makers Clan managed to produce a new means of restoring wounded dragons' dragonflies. More than that, the Magic Crafters Clan once built magical figurines that acted as a sort of failsafe: if a dragon was harmed after his or her dragonfly had disintegrated, the magic would be released from one and fully restore both dragon and dragonfly. More ingenious still, about nine years ago, the Magic Crafters and the Beast Makers combined their creations, so that some butterflies now contain the magic of the figurines, and the magic is now released directly into the dragonfly.

"Now, despite these seemingly war-related innovations, things in the world were relatively peaceful up until about a decade ago, merely one decade after Spyro was reborn. Spyro can tell you the details of his many adventures at a later date, but to put things simply, some of the Beast Makers' failed attempts to create powerful creatures came to resent the dragons and retaliated, wreaking havoc on the world."

"You mean Gnasty Gnorc, Ripto, and the Sorceress were created by dragons?" Spyro asked.

"Yes," answered the Chronicler, "which is why they were powerful enough to do actual great harm against any group of people; dragons may be weak compared to what they once were, but they remain the most magical creatures in the world.

"At any rate, Cynder, as you've probably guessed, Spyro's calling came in the forms of these monsters, and he quickly made a name for himself as a hero in communities around the world. The dragons, recognizing the signs, encouraged him, and the Elders themselves began to train him. In one of his adventures, the dragon you saw outside, Red, was his foe, and Spyro later managed to bring him back over to the right side. Spyro is even more powerful now than he was when he left the world five million years ago, as he has learned some spells from the Elders that are not elemental.

"Just three days ago, Spyro's memories began to return, and, recognizing this as the final sign, the Elders gathered everyone in the worlds together and told them of your story; that is, of yourself, and of Spyro, and of Sparx, and of Malefor. Now, all the sapient creatures in the world know of you, and are expecting you back on the mainland.

"Cynder, your return, as well as that of Spyro, has been long awaited by all of dragonkind, and they may expect things of you that are unreasonable. Be prepared for this when you leave."

"Wonderful," Cynder muttered.

"It will not be as bad as you are expecting," the Chronicler reassured her. "Many will hail you as a hero, past and future."

"Future?" Cynder queried.

"They're expecting you as the mother of the new dragon race," Spyro explained. "Being one of the dragons of old, you'll be able to produce dragons that are as powerful as dragons used to be."

"With you?" Cynder asked slyly.

Spyro shifted uncomfortably and looked away.

"Spyro, Cynder, Sparx, now it is time for me to tell you all another story, one that you've all been wanting to hear, though for varying amounts of time," the Chronicler mercifully interrupted.

"What story's that?" asked Sparx.

"The story of Red's origins," the Chronicler replied.

"Yeah, I _have_ been wondering about that," Spyro said. "I've asked the Elders, but none of them seemed to want to talk about it."

"That's because no dragon wants to admit that, a few millennia ago, they repeated the mistakes of the past; that, and it would have been hard to explain to you without telling you of your own destiny," the Chronicler replied. "However, as it is very relevant to current events, I will relate it to you now. Spyro, do you recall the pink eggs with brown spots that you rescued when you first became a hero by defeating Gnasty Gnorc?"

"Yeah," Spyro answered, "I've always kind of wondered about those, too. Aren't they dud eggs, since they were laid so long after the Year of the Dragon? I don't really understand why it was so important for me to rescue them."

"What do you mean?" asked Cynder.

"Eggs that aren't laid during the Year of the Dragon don't hatch," Spyro explained. "Eggs that are laid within the first few years after the Year of the Dragon have magical properties, but late ones like the ones I rescued when I fought Gnasty Gnorc…they're useless, aren't they?" he asked the Chronicler.

"No," the Chronicler answered. "You see, though those eggs _usually_ don't hatch, they do every now and again, and the dragons that are born from them are unusually powerful; somehow, they tend to have inherited some of the powers of our Ancestors. The Sorcerer, whom you fought recently, was one such dragon; Red was another." Spyro was silent, allowing the Chronicler to continue.

"When Red was born of one of the so-called dud eggs, he was a marvel to all of dragonkind," the Chronicler went on. "His color, for which he is now named, has been unprecedented by any dragon of any era, old or new. There were dark orange-red dragons in the old days, such as myself, which had indicated Fire to be the dragon's element, but Red's bright-red coloring had never been seen before. I myself was surprised when he was born.

"His color, along with his strange but harmless deformities, such as his hunched neck, the strange fins on his elbows, and his underbite, led the dragons to wonder what powers he might have when he grew up. He was tested, and, naturally, was found to have great magical abilities, beyond that of any dragon known throughout the Dragon Kingdoms - the Sorcerer was born, and grew up, far away from the dragons, and none of them knew of him until the day he _attacked_ the Dragon Kingdoms. Going back to Red, some dragons believed that perhaps _he_ was the long-awaited reincarnation of the great Spyro, though it was granted that he didn't resemble you in the least. It was deemed possible, however, though this was mostly out of impatience - one justification was that he was bright red and Cynder's Time Crystal was rumored to be blue, and red and blue make purple. Despite the absurdity of such arguments, it was still deemed possible, and Red's birth name was Rofelam."

"Are you kidding me? _Rofelam_?" Cynder asked, laughing.

Spyro looked at her questioningly.

"Spyro, it's Malefor spelled backwards," she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh," Spyro said. Then, turning to the Chronicler, he asked, "Why would they name him that?"

"Because, young dragon, they believed that he _might_ have been the reincarnation of _you_, but they didn't want to tempt fate," the Chronicler answered. "So, to be safe, they named him after the other purple dragon of old; but, not wanting him to end up like the Dark Master, they spelled the name backwards, in the hopes that he would likewise turn out to be the opposite of Malefor."

"Yeah, that _really_ worked out," Sparx commented sarcastically.

"Indeed it did not, and that's why he is known as Red today," the Chronicler agreed. "While he was growing up, however, Rofelam was not kept in the dark about his possible destiny like you were, Spyro. He was raised hearing stories about you, and he wanted to be you so badly that he actually was able to visualize in detail some of the encounters you and Malefor shared, his old memories as Malefor roused by the stories told to him of ancient times. As he was about to come of age, he told the Elders, who had been training him, that he remembered some of his past, believing himself to be you. In earnest, the Elders began preparing to escort him the long way here, which none of them were strong enough to do on their own. While they prepared, however, Rofelam came of age and grew to be an adult-sized dragon, which he could not have done if he _had_, in fact, been you.

"His hopes shattered, his dreams crushed, Rofelam was given a position as one of the Elders, but to him, this was no compensation for what he had hoped to be. He had wanted, more than anything else in the entire world, to father the new race of dragons, to be great, to be able to do something so wonderful for the world. Because of his upbringing, he had a good heart, and was frustrated by his inability to usher in the New Era. His frustration quickly turned to rage as his old self stirred, and he began to blame the dragons for his disappointment. He turned on them, and when he was cast out, like his former self, he sought to find a way to destroy the dragons. This was why he hated _you_ so much, Spyro; he was jealous.

"At first, he tried using his magic to pick the dragons off one by one, and he later actually managed to wage war against the dragons on his own, without any sort of followers. The dragons repelled his attacks, finally destroying the link between himself and his dragonfly and stripping him of his name, and he was forced to admit defeat and disappear from view. I, of course, was able to follow his exploits through his book, and watched as he found some of the dark crystals from the days of Malefor's rampage, guided subconsciously by his old memories."

"The Dark Gems!" Spyro exclaimed.

"Yes, that's what they came to be known as by the dragons of today, and as he was the reincarnation of the one dragon who had learned to master their use, he was able to tap into their power and gain internal strength, without need for a dragonfly," the Chronicler confirmed. "After you defeated Gnasty Gnorc, that beast's soul wandered to where what remained of Malefor's power lay, drawn to it as the dark souls of old were drawn to the Well of Souls. There, Red revived him. He did the same for Ripto and his two half-dragon minions, but Ripto was ungrateful and ran off with Crush and Gulp, looking for revenge. After that failure, Red stopped reviving your foes, and the Sorceress never got a second chance. Gnasty Gnorc, though, was very grateful to Red, and found comfort in Red's ugliness, as that had been what Gnasty Gnorc had held a grudge for against the dragons."

"He hated the dragons because he was ugly?" Spyro asked.

"Indeed," the Chronicler answered, "as it was the dragons who had created him to begin with. At any rate, after spending some time mining Dark Gems and building an army of Gnorcs with his new accomplice, Red returned to the world, and you know the rest."

"Hey, speaking of the Sorcerer, what happened to _him_?" asked Spyro.

"He is dead," answered the Chronicler. "You dealt him a mortal blow."

"But he escaped," said Spyro.

"Indeed, but his wounds were too great," replied the Chronicler. "He barely managed to get back to his home, but he wasn't strong enough to recover."

"Where was his home?" asked Spyro.

"The islands which you once called home," answered the Chronicler. "He lived in the remains of the Temple."

"Uh-_huh_," said Cynder, who had no idea what the two dragons were talking about. "That's interesting. Now, I have a question: How is it that Malefor managed to come back through Red _now_?"

"That is the last story I have to tell you," the Chronicler replied. "You see, when Malefor was taken away by the spirits of the Ancestors, he was not truly killed. Even though the Ancestors boosted Spyro's planet-restoring spell with Malefor's _immortality_, his _spirit_ remained strong enough to work against them. Because the world was still an in-between place when you were encased in that crystal, he was able to sneak in and add his own essence to it. When Spyro released you by absorbing his own essence, the piece that was Malefor's was deposited next to Red and, unable to resist, he picked it up."

"_That's_ what he was holding!" Spyro realized.

"But _why_?" asked Cynder. "What does he want _this_ time?"

"What he wants, my dear child, is the three of you," the Chronicler answered. "His fall at your hands - yes, yours too, Sparx, for you were very crucial in Spyro's quests - left him enraged, and he wants revenge. He must not be allowed to have it; the time has come for him to be killed once and for all, fair and square…and with his immortality gone, you will be able to do just that."


	10. Chapter 8: A Final Farewell

"We have to fight him _again_?" Spyro asked.

"Indeed," the Chronicler said affirmatively, "but this time, you won't have to do it alone. If you can make it back to the mainland, you will have the entire world on your side. Everyone still waits for the three of you back on the Great Plain, and it will be no difficult feat to rouse them to your aid."

"Well, it's pretty convenient that everyone's been preparing for the Sorcerer's return," Sparx commented.

"Indeed," agreed the Chronicler. "The preparations they would have to make to fortify themselves against Malefor are essentially the same as those which they have been making for the Sorcerer."

"But how do we get past _Malefor_?" Cynder asked, slightly annoyed that everyone kept referring to something she didn't know about.

"Yeah, I doubt he's just gonna let us walk through and have a couple hours' head start," Sparx said.

"A couple of hours?" Spyro asked Sparx.

"Yeah," Sparx answered. "I mean, we're gonna have to get everyone _ready_. It's not like we're just gonna fly in there and tell them to turn around and attack the big scary dragon behind us."

"Well, why not?" asked Spyro. "I mean, yeah, it'd be nice to give people a warning so they could brace themselves, but I don't see why we _have_ to. Like you said, people all over the world have been preparing for the attack of a great, powerful dragon anyway."

"Well, for one thing, most of the people on the Great Plain can't fight," Sparx pointed out. "Most of them are like the Manweersmalls; you know, how they were so weak and boring that the Skavangers didn't bother putting them on display in the arena? A lot of them are gonna just have to, you know, _get the hell out of there_. Plus, it'd be nice if we could actually set up some sort of welcoming party, know what I mean?"

"Yes, Spyro, you'll need as much time as possible to prepare the mainland for battle against Malefor, even despite the preparations that have been made," agreed the Chronicler. "Remember that times have changed, and no one creature in the world acting alone, yourselves excepted, would be able to put up much more of a resistance to the Dark Master than a bog rat."

"That still leaves the question of _how_," Spyro argued. "Like Sparx said, if Malefor's waiting for us outside, he's not just going to let us get past him. Wait," he said, remembering something, "the Chronicler - I mean, the old Chronicler - he sent me to the Well of Souls through this hourglass. Can't you do the same thing?"

"I'm afraid I cannot," the Chronicler answered sadly. "This hourglass has become nothing more than a relic of the old times. There isn't enough magic in the world for it to be used to take you anywhere. Be that as it may…" He turned to the doors, which opened. "Spyro, Cynder, Sparx, remember that I said my time was coming to an end. I will help you get past Malefor," he continued, walking out of the room, "but all of you must promise me that once you take flight, you will not look back."

"What? No!" Spyro exclaimed. "You're not sacrificing yourself for us again! I won't let you!"

"I'm afraid, young dragon, that Malefor will leave neither you nor I a choice," the Chronicler replied heavily. "I myself am more than happy to leave this place and see the sky one more time before I pass on to join the Ancestors, and I am also happy to do my part in this battle one last time. Come; if we don't go soon, _he'll_ come to _us_, and then there will be no escape."

Cynder had been walking beside him from the start, and Sparx had been trailing them, but Spyro refused to budge from the threshold of the door to the Chronicler's Library.

"I won't let you do it this time," Spyro said firmly. "I'll fight him on my own if I have to. Cynder and I took him out once before; we can do it again." As he spoke, he marched up to them, his eyes narrowed, ready for battle.

The Chronicler sighed. "We shall see," he told Spyro. "I will, however, join you outside regardless."

Together, the four of them that were all that was left of the Great Era approached the entrance to the citadel. It opened.

There was no one outside.

Spyro stood on the threshold, looking everywhere; he could find no trace of Red _or_ Malefor.

"Did he already go?" asked Cynder.

"No," the Chronicler said without hesitation, "he has no further intentions of destroying the world. All he wants now is to destroy the three of you…though he will not hesitate to destroy anyone, or any_thing_, that gets in his way."

"Well then, where is he?" asked Sparx, flying outside and showing a streak of bravery that was unlike him. He searched the entire courtyard, then turned back to the others.

"He's not here!" Sparx called to them.

"Oh, he is," the Chronicler assured them. "If I had to guess, I'd say he's waiting out of sight, ready to attack when we show ourselves."

"Then why isn't he attacking Sparx?" Spyro asked.

"My guess is that Sparx is of the least importance to him out of the three of you, as he poses no threat," the Chronicler replied. "Once you two step outside, however, he will come."

"Hey, what do you mean, 'no threat'?" Sparx demanded, crossing his arms. "You fed me a magic butterfly! I am so a threat!"

"Not to him, you're not," the Chronicler said, more to himself than to Sparx. He closed his eyes for a moment, as though fortifying himself, then said to the two young dragons beside him, "Come on. There's no point in standing around." Then, he hobbled outside. Spyro and Cynder, hesitating for a moment, looked at each other uncertainly, the same question on both of their minds:

_Does he _have_ to die for us _again_?_

Neither of them could find an answer. Instead, they nodded to each other wordlessly, and followed the ancient dragon out into the courtyard.

~o~

From his vantage point atop the wall of the citadel, Malefor waited patiently for the dragons and dragonfly to come out. A few hours passed, and Malefor was just starting to get antsy when he felt the door open beneath him.

_Yes._

He crouched, hiding himself from view and preparing to pounce at the same time. He watched as Sparx flew out of the citadel and inspected the entire courtyard.

_I'm up here,_ Malefor thought, amused. He watched Sparx turn back to the citadel, presumably to his friends who still stood in the doorway. Malefor was patient. He knew that his foes would come into view any second…

He saw more movement at the entrance, and was about to attack when he realized that the form that was walking out the door was large, larger than a dragon Spyro or Cynder's age, and was white and black, and cloaked in blue.

_The Chronicler himself?_ Malefor thought, surprised. _I thought he never left his inner chamber. Well, well, this _is_ an honor…_

He couldn't imagine why the Chronicler would forsake his room, and thus, his duty. Still, he knew Spyro and Cynder had to be right behind him; Sparx wouldn't be there if the two young dragons weren't coming.

_Where are you…?_

Finally, he saw two small figures, one purple, one black, emerging from the building.

_Yes!_

With a roar, he launched down onto his enemies, not even bothering to slow his descent with his wings.

~o~

"Look out!" Sparx cried, seeing the monster that was plummeting toward them like a meteor.

Spyro and Cynder looked up and behind them, hearing both Malefor's roar and Sparx's warning at the same time.

"_Aah_!" cried Cynder.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Spyro.

They jumped in opposite directions, almost escaping the impact of the giant dragon that landed right on top of where they had been. Malefor hit the ground so hard that the earth shook, dust and pebbles scattered everywhere, and Spyro and Cynder were blown backward to opposite sides of the courtyard and slammed against the walls, whereupon they both fell to the ground, stunned.

When the dust cleared, Malefor was standing there, radiating power and malice, braced in an attacking stance. He looked at the Chronicler and chuckled.

"Ignitus," he said, his voice rumbling deeper than thunder, "I should have known. Only you would turn away from your duties to join these whelplings."

"I have not neglected _my_ duty," the Chronicler declared strongly, looking him in the eye; "it is _you_ who has neglected _your_ duties, both as a dragon and as a sorcerer."

The Dark Master laughed maniacally.

"Oh, Ignitus, always so righteous. Just like _my_ old mentors…" the Dark Master said mockingly. "You think I don't know how many times you allowed your role as Master of Fire to be seconded to helping these whelps? You abandoned your duty multiple times, and I partially owe my freedom to that fact, since, had you not allowed yourself to be captured so long ago, Cynder here wouldn't have been able to charge the crystal with your power."

"I do not regret any decision I've ever made," the Chronicler replied.

"Really?" taunted the Dark Master. "What about the time when you ferried the purple dragon's egg alone to safety, instead of defending all of them like you were supposed to? You practically _gave_ my henchmen Cynder's egg! And as I just said, what about when you attacked Cynder in order to save your precious whelpling? You _knew_ that _your_ power was the last ingredient Cynder needed to give me the strength to break free, and you willingly allowed yourself to be taken! And of course, we cannot forget the time you gave your own life to grant Spyro and Cynder access to my lair! Do you know how abandoned that made the purple whelpling feel? It was so easy for me to break his spirit after the blow _you_ dealt to him, and had Cynder not loved him, I would have crushed him like a bug!

"And now, here you stand, once again turning your back on the duties that have been entrusted to you. You _do_ know that the inner chamber of the Temple of the White Isle is _never_ to be left uncared for by the current Chronicler, don't you? Time itself could start to unravel without its caretaker, and yet you're out here, old, broken, powerless…You're not even _alive_, and yet you still intend to fight for Spyro! If you die again without passing on your duty, the very fabric of space and time will fall apart!"

The Chronicler's head had lowered more and more in shame as the Dark Master spoke, his eyes closed; not only was it all true, it was exactly what he had thought of restlessly, day after day, wondering if he'd made a mistake, if _he'd_ allowed the Dark Master to destroy the world in the first place…if the whole thing had been _his_ fault. The Dark Master's words spoke directly to the deepest, darkest places in the Chronicler's heart, filling him with doubt, just as Malefor had done to Spyro and Cynder all those years ago.

"But I will give you one last chance to redeem yourself," the Dark Master continued. "I will allow you to return, unharmed, to the chamber that is your home, if you walk away now. That is the only offer I will give you; make good use of it!"

For a moment, the Chronicler was still.

_Maybe I should…_ he thought. _Perhaps it would be for the best if I stayed out of it this time…_

"Make your choice, Ignitus; I won't give you all night."

_Yes,_ thought the Chronicler, _I'm no match for him. If I stay, the universe itself will collapse. It's not _my_ destiny to end him, anyway; it's _Spyro's_ destiny._

_Spyro…_

The Chronicler raised his head again to glare into the eyes of his enemy, all self-doubt vanquished.

"No," he said sternly. "I will not run. I will not leave you to have your way. I am going to stay right here and fight you. _That_ is my duty."

To accentuate the Chronicler's assertive statement, Sparx threw an orb of light at the Dark Master, hitting him square between the eyes.

Malefor blinked and shook his head slightly.

"So be it," he said after taking a moment to shake off the mild sting of Sparx's attack. "I shall destroy you first!"

During this exchange, Spyro had been struggling to stand back up; the force with which he'd hit the wall had knocked the wind out of him. Now, seeing Malefor charge at the Chronicler, he cried helplessly, "Ignitus! _No_!"

Suddenly, the Dark Master stopped, held back by some invisible force.

It was Cynder. Ensnaring him with her power, she caught the Dark Master's wings and used them to trap him in a pocket of wind, rendering him motionless.

This took a great deal of magic, and everyone present knew it. She couldn't keep it up for longer than five seconds before her magic ran out, and the Dark Master was released. In the moments that Cynder managed to buy them, the Chronicler gave his final command.

"Spyro, Cynder, Sparx! Fly away from here as fast as you can, _now_! And remember; don't look back!" he cried.

"But-" Spyro protested as the Dark Master turned to attack the Chronicler once more.

"Farewell!" the Chronicler called to the three heroes. Then, as Malefor charged, he reared up on his hind legs…The crystal around his neck started to glow…

"Come on, let's go!" Sparx called to Spyro.

Cynder took off right away, darting through the air as fast as she could to get away from the island. Sparx tried to follow, but his tie to Spyro, which was as strong as the bindings of the Dark Master's snake charms in times of danger, held him back.

"Come on!" Sparx yelled again, tugging at his magical bindings.

Spyro stood motionless, not hearing his friend. He couldn't let it happen again…

Suddenly, Cynder swooped down out of the sky and grabbed him. Mustering all her strength, she lifted him into the air.

"No!" Spyro cried deliriously, mindlessly struggling against Cynder's grip. "No! I won't leave him behind again!"

Cynder didn't waste what precious little energy she had arguing. She just strained her muscles, struggling to get away as fast as she could without letting go of Spyro.

"Turn back!" Spyro commanded her. "Turn back! I'm not leaving him again!"

"Spyro," she gasped, fighting to fly higher, "either you leave him, or you leave me!"

Spyro was stunned into silence for a moment. How could he choose?…

Then, just before they cleared the top of the wall around the citadel, the two dragons and Sparx heard a blast from behind them. Sparx turned around just long enough to see the shock wave expanding rapidly to cover the island.

"Aah!" he cried. "Hurry! It's gonna catch us!" He zipped away, high into the sky.

Cynder flapped her wings harder, digging deep within herself, Spyro a dead weight in her claws. Spyro hung limp, watching, transfixed, as a wall of magic sped toward them…Cynder wasn't going to make it…

"Spyro!" Cynder cried desperately. "Lend a wing, would ya?"

Spyro barely heard her. All he could see, all he could think of, was the Chronicler's distant form…

Sparx tried to help Cynder, pulling at his magical bond with Spyro, trying to lighten her load, but his efforts offered her little relief. Cynder dug deeper, trying to gain some strength from the fact that Spyro wasn't struggling anymore, but she was quickly getting tired. Unable to keep up the pace, she began to be overtaken by the blast, Spyro's tail quickly becoming enveloped by the oncoming force. It didn't blow her away, though. On the contrary, it somehow seemed to make Spyro heavier…

"No…" she groaned in defiance of the magic that was dragging her down, "_no_…come on…_come_ _on_!…"

Suddenly, just as her strength was about to give out completely, the shock wave stopped advancing, allowing her to pull Spyro's half-submerged body out of the way. With a final burst of effort, she hurled Spyro away from the island toward the ocean, then allowed the air to catch in her wings and keep her suspended without any effort on her part.

After about a minute of falling, Spyro automatically caught himself in the air and flew up to hover by Cynder's side. Silently, the three companions hovered together high in the night sky, moonlight gleaming off the two dragons' scales, as Cynder panted hard, trying to catch her breath. Fortunately, there was a slight updraft that kept her aloft without pushing her higher, allowing her to rest in the air without flapping her wings.

"Spyro," she panted after a few minutes, "do _not_…make me do that…_again_!"

Spyro didn't answer. He gazed down at the island far below them, unable to look away. After a minute, Cynder and Sparx looked down, too.

They gasped.

The wall of magic that had almost enveloped them hadn't disappeared, but instead encased the island like a giant eggshell. Inside, time stood completely still. They could still see Malefor and the Chronicler, both of whom were frozen like statues, Malefor about to tear the Chronicler apart, and the Chronicler frozen in a stance on his hind legs, the crystal around his neck glowing brightly.

"Spyro…we have to go," Cynder said after another minute. "I doubt that that's going to last very long; he told us not to look back, so I think Ignitus is just trying to buy us time to get out of here."

"Why?" Spyro demanded of her then, tears welling in his eyes. "Why does he always have to sacrifice himself to save me? Why do I always have to leave him behind? I'm a _purple_ dragon! I'm supposed to be _powerful_! But here I am, about to run away again, while Ignitus _dies_ for me, _again_!"

"Spyro, the thing is, Malefor's a purple dragon, too, and he's a lot older and more powerful than you are," Cynder said gently. "He has the kind of power that comes with age and experience. You're young." When Spyro just glared down at the frozen forms beneath them, she added, "Ignitus is doing this so that we'll be able to prepare everyone on the mainland for battle against Malefor. The only thing we can do for him now is make use of this last gift that he's giving us."

"Yeah, you should listen to your _wife_, Spyro," Sparx said, snickering.

Spyro turned to glare at his friend.

"Ignitus is giving his life for us, _again_, and all you can think about is making fun of me for being married?" Spyro demanded of him angrily.

"Look, buddy, I'm gonna miss the old man, too," Sparx said, relenting. "I mean, he made a magic butterfly for me so I can fight now, like you! That's really cool; I've always wanted to be able to do that!"

"You've always been able to fight, Sparx!" Spyro snapped.

"Yeah, like crawdads and insects and stuff," Sparx retorted, crossing his arms. "_Now_ I can fight big stuff too; that was the point of the 'like you' part of that statement. I definitely owe Ignitus for this. But there's nothing we can do for him now except leave. If we go back down there, we'll get frozen too, and then Ignitus will be ripped to shreds by that evil dragon anyway, and all of this will have been for nothing."

"Sparx is right, for once," Cynder said to Spyro. "We need to go now. Come on. It's what Ignitus wants."

Spyro didn't care about _why_ Ignitus was sacrificing himself again, didn't care that his friends were right, didn't care about getting back to the mainland and getting ready for battle. All he wanted was to be able to save his mentor and friend. He stayed where he was, looking back where he had been.

"Come on," Cynder said again, and she started flying away, Sparx leading her in the right direction.

Spyro stayed for several moments longer, no longer being tugged by his bond to Sparx. Then, before he finally turned away to fly after his friends, he said the words he'd never gotten to say before:

"Goodbye, Ignitus."

Then, he flew away, tears streaming from his eyes.


	11. Chapter 9: Onwards to Battle

The three friends flew together in silence for hours, all of them lost in thought, just as the company that had come to the island had been.

Spyro, of course, was thinking about Ignitus, and how he'd gotten him back when he thought he was gone, only to lose him again so quickly. He thought about all that Ignitus had done for him, all the things they had said to one another. He also thought back to Thomas's story, in which Thomas had described Ignitus as the closest thing to a dragon father that Spyro had ever had, and Spyro pondered how perfectly true that had been.

Cynder was thinking about Ignitus, too, and how he'd been so nice to her, even after what she'd done to him and the other Guardians. He'd taken her under his wing, done his best to be like a father to her, even after she almost killed him and his comrades, and she had rewarded him by causing all kinds of terrible things by running away. She knew that she was doing the right thing now by leaving him behind, but a large part of her shared Spyro's frustration that there had been nothing that any of them could have done to save him.

Sparx's thoughts were all over the place. He thought about his cool new power, and how his best friend was married, and how Malefor was like a rash that just wouldn't go away. He thought about Ignitus, too, and how he'd always been so rude to the old man, and how Ignitus had given him his new power anyway. He thought about how all the other dragonflies were so unlucky not to be him, having to live without arms and hands, and how he didn't have to take hits for Spyro anymore. He thought about how he could shift his magical bond to others, and wondered if he should do that or if he should just be special. He thought about everyone back home, and how he had been so different from his old self in his recent life. He thought about dragons' fire breath coming from Ignitus, and how the dragons in the world weren't really dragons but magical imitations of them, and how Spyro and Cynder were supposed to bring real dragons back into the world, and how somehow dragons with some of the power of the old days were sometimes born of dud eggs. He thought about how he'd have to accept that Cynder was trustworthy since she was his best friend's wife, and how he'd unreasonably feared her for so long. He thought about Red, and how the strange dragon had thought that Cynder was so beautiful even though she looked strange compared to all the other dragons in the world, and how Red had wanted to save the world even though he was the reincarnation of the dragon that had wanted to destroy it. He thought about the overall madness of life in general, past, present, and future, and how he was always right by the side of the guy who was always right in the middle of things. In short, Sparx thought about everything.

They flew all through the night, well into the next day, and it was late afternoon by the time they reached the mainland. Cynder had never seen the new mainland before, and, without any sort of familiar landmark, she didn't recognize the land at all.

"_That's_ the mainland?" she exclaimed. "It looks nothing like it used to!"

"Like we said, the whole world's changed," Sparx replied.

"I didn't know you meant the _land_, too," she said.

"Yeah, well, good thing you're with us, or you'd never find anything," Sparx commented.

"Yeah…" she trailed off, amazed by just how _different_ everything in the world had become. _It's like a whole new world entirely,_ she thought.

It wasn't long, compared to the rest of their journey, before they came in sight of the Great Plain. When they got there, they saw that the Chronicler had spoken the truth: every single person who had originally been present two days earlier was still there, waiting for them. Someone in the crowd must have seen them, because they were barely over the southern edge of the plain before the entire crowd cheered so loudly that Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx were glad they were so high up.

"_That's_ everyone in the world?" Cynder asked, amazed. She had never seen so many different creatures that weren't enemies gathered together in one place, and the plain was so huge that she couldn't see all the way across it, even as high up as the three comrades were.

"Yeah," Sparx said, "and trust me, they're all really, really weird."

It took them several more minutes to fly all the way across the entire expanse of the plain, and everyone below stared in awe at the black dragon flying overhead; the three companions were so high up that Spyro's changes and Sparx weren't discernible. Finally, the three came down from on high to stand (or in Sparx's case, hover) directly before the Elders.

For several minutes, everyone gazed at Cynder, marveling at her appearance, which was so different from that of modern dragons. Eventually, however, the audience noticed Sparx, and how different he looked, and this drew new gasps of awe from the assembly. Spyro's relatively small changes in appearance were noticed a few minutes later still, and though it wasn't enough to elicit more awed exclamations, the attendants stared nonetheless.

"Can they _all_ see us?" Cynder whispered to Spyro.

"Yeah," Spyro replied quietly, "Red and I set up a projection spell; everyone in the entire plain can both see and hear us easily."

"Great," Cynder mumbled; she hadn't been the center of so much attention since her days as Malefor's errand girl.

When the onlookers finally had their fill of beholding the wondrous new arrivals, Elder Thomas stepped forward grandly and spoke, addressing Cynder.

"Noble dragon, it is a pleasure, and an honor, to behold your coming, and to stand in your presence," he said grandly with a bow.

"Uh…thanks," Cynder said self-consciously.

Sparx took the attention off of Cynder by drawing it to himself.

"Hey, how come you didn't tell me before that I was the reincarnation of _me_?" Sparx demanded of Thomas.

"Master Sparx," Thomas answered, surprised, "I was unaware of such a thing! Is it truly you?"

"Yes, it's me," Sparx answered grandly. "I am the mighty Sparx, negotiator of the ancient pact between dragons and dragonflies, and _under-appreciated_ brother of the famous big purple thing, Spyro."

"Welcome back," Thomas said, bowing also to Sparx. "I was completely unaware that you were to return as well."

"Yeah, well, you got some other things wrong, too," Sparx said matter-of-factly. "You know, like how you forgot to mention that Spyro and Cynder were only able to get away from that giant lava thing because Hunter shot it in the eye? Or how you said that Spyro went through all of the Skavangers' ships _before_ finding a map? And Cyril didn't confirm Volteer's theory at all - he didn't know anything new. There were other mistakes in your story, too."

"Forgive me," Thomas replied; "some details are lost in the retelling of the stories of history. Now, if I may ask, where's Red?" Thomas asked Spyro, still clearly excited by the return of the dragons of old.

"_Rofelam_ is gone," Spyro said, somewhat sternly.

A gasp ran through the crowd.

"How in the world did you know-"

"That Rofelam was Red's _real_ name?" Spyro finished for Elder Titan. Not giving anyone time to reply, he answered, "Because Ignitus told me. He told me everything."

"Ignitus?" queried Magnus.

"Yeah, Ignitus became the new Chronicler after Spyro used up all his power to save the world," Sparx said by way of explanation. "The old man told us some stories while we were gone, like how Red was the reincarnation of Malefor."

"What?" gasped Thomas as everyone in the plain exclaimed at this piece of news.

"You didn't know?" Sparx asked. "Yeah, that's why Red said he remembered stuff from the old days, and why he turned on dragons so quickly."

"Ignitus told us that _Rofelam_ has managed to separate himself from Malefor, and that he's his own dragon now," Spyro continued, emphasizing Red's real name. "The bad news is, Malefor's back; Rofelam's gone to join the Ancestors, and the Dark Master is here for revenge…on the three of us."

A murmur ran through the crowd as everyone present shared feelings of surprise and varying levels of fear with one another.

"So…where is he?" Bianca asked after a minute.

"Ignitus managed to buy us some time, but we don't know how long we have before he arrives here," answered Cynder, knowing it wasn't time yet for introductions. "But when he comes, he'll be destroying everything, and every_one_, he sees, so…" She turned to face the entire crowd. "Those of you who can't or won't fight him, which I understand is most of you, need to get far away from here. Go north, or east, or underground; get out of any potential line of fire. He'll be arriving on the southwestern border of the mainland, and that's where we're going to meet him, so if you won't or can't join us, get far away."

The murmur rose in volume as everyone turned to each other, asking if they had heard right; surely Cynder, the great black dragon of old, hadn't asked for _their_ help? Hunter was the one who finally asked her what was on everyone's mind.

"Excuse me, but…" He cleared his throat. "Are you saying you want _our_ help fighting him?"

"We would appreciate it, yes," Cynder replied, trying to be firm but polite.

"But _why_, though?" asked the Professor. "Surely you and Spyro can defeat him yourselves; you've done it before."

"This time's different," Spyro told his friend. "This time, Malefor knows he's mortal, and he'll be fighting much, much harder because of that."

"Plus, he'll be mad as hell in _all_ senses of the word, which won't help," Sparx added.

"We know that you all have a lot of questions, and we're sorry that we can't answer them right now, but Malefor could be here any minute, so we need to be ready," Cynder said. "Again, anyone who can't or won't fight needs to get out of the open and away from the southwestern border _quickly_. Anyone who thinks they can help us, we would appreciate your coming with us to meet him."

Some of the more timid species, such as the unbound dragonflies and the armadillos, needed no further encouragement, and immediately left the Great Plain for their homes far away. The Gnorcs, Riptocs, Rhynocs, and such creatures ran back to their kind to tell the others what was happening. Most of the intermediate species, being such in both strength and bravery, discussed among themselves what they should do; they were too shocked by everything that had happened in the past few days to bother questioning the news. The stronger races, such as the dragons, also discussed among themselves what to do, and which of them should or should not join Spyro, Sparx, and Cynder in this final battle.

Most of the attendants decided to leave, even most of the spellcasters. Those who stayed were mostly individuals: Hunter, Bianca, Sheila, Sgt. Byrd, Bentley, Agent 9, and, after some debate with his uncle, Blink. The Professor agreed to join them to help in the preparations, but made it clear that he was leaving as soon as Malefor arrived. The groups that joined as a _species_ were the fairies, dragons, wizards, and a few small clusters of some other species. Of course, of both the dragons and the fairies, some stayed out of it. Of the fairies, a few of the most powerless ones, excluding Zoe, left for their home; most, however, stayed, as the fairies were somewhat capable of hive-mind force, where they added one another's powers together. Of the dragons, the Artisans, Beast Makers, and Dream Weavers left, as well as all the elderly, female, and underage dragons (Spyro and Cynder excluded, of course); meanwhile, the Peace Keepers, the Magic Crafters, and most of the rest of the dragons got together with their dragonfly partners in preparation, many of whom hadn't seen one another since the dragons of the partnerships had come of age.

The small army followed Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx wordlessly, all of them still trying to come to grips with what was happening. After about an hour, they all arrived at the beach on which Spyro's quest against the Sorcerer had begun.

"We can't set up _here_," one of the dragons protested. "This is a _village_!"

"This is _also_ approximately where Malefor will arrive at the mainland," Cynder answered.

"Perhaps we should find a better location nearby," Thomas advised sagely.

"Do you have something in mind?" Sparx asked.

"A few miles up the shoreline, there's an expanse of rocky cliffs that, in places, act like natural stone tiers, each with significant standing room," Thomas answered readily. "Also, it's quite close to the Temple, which will be helpful, as there are some artifacts stored there which I believe may be useful."

"Why didn't you say that fifteen minutes ago?" Sparx muttered to no one in particular as he rolled his eyes, annoyed. He received no answer, and the group turned around to head to the place that Thomas had suggested.

~o~

The Chronicler focused on holding time still, praying that Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx had gotten away safely. He drew power from the crystal around his neck, which he had prepared for this very occasion. Though he, too, was frozen in time, he was conscious of every passing moment, much as Cynder had been in her own time freeze, and he focused all his energy on maintaining the time freeze that _he_ now powered. He lasted about half a day before his control started to slip. He struggled to hold on, and managed to hold out for about an hour longer, but finally, he released the spell.

Time moving once again, the Chronicler was quickly tackled to the ground by Malefor, who was unaware of what had happened. The force of the blow sent them both sliding several feet backward, Malefor on top, with the Chronicler being mercilessly ground into the earth beneath him. When they reached a standstill, Malefor raised one terrible claw to begin ripping the Chronicler to shreds, when he saw the satisfaction in the Chronicler's eyes. Malefor paused, still holding the Chronicler down, and looked around to see that Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx were gone.

Enraged, he picked up the Chronicler in both his hands and threw the helpless ancient dragon halfway across the courtyard.

"Where are they?!" the Dark Master demanded, walking toward the badly injured form on the ground.

"They are long gone," the Chronicler answered, gasping from the force of the blows he had suffered, trying in vain to rise to his feet. "They have more than half a day on you, and by now they've probably reached the mainland."

His rage rising beyond anything the ancient purple dragon had felt before, the Dark Master wordlessly grabbed the Chronicler by the back of the neck in his jaws and threw the Chronicler bodily against the wall of the citadel; it was a mortal blow. The Dark Master took a minute to glare at the crippled form of the Keeper of Time. Then, with a roar, he flew up into the sky and headed, full speed, for the mainland.

For several minutes, the Chronicler lay still where he had fallen, trying to gather his strength. When little came, he forced himself to roll onto his stomach regardless, then started dragging himself back inside the citadel. It was a long and painful struggle that took him over two hours, but finally, he managed to reenter his great library and close the doors behind him.

When the doors closed, some of his strength returned, though he knew it was because his room, when sealed off, was a place somewhat in between the world of the living and the afterlife. He pulled himself over to his great hourglass and touched the crystal around his neck to its surface. A light bloomed inside the glass structure, which took on a shape and stepped out of the great hourglass in the form of Red himself.

"Rofelam," the Chronicler gasped, still lying on the ground.

"Who are you?" asked Red, looking around, confused. "Where am I? How do you know my name?"

"For the past five million years, I have been master of this hall, as the Keeper of Time," the Chronicler answered, his breath coming hard. "Before that, I was the dragon known as Ignitus, Master of Fire. My time has come to an end, and now, I wish to pass on my duties to you."

"You're the Chronicler?" asked Red.

"Yes," the Chronicler confirmed.

"And you were also Ignitus, Master of Fire, and mentor to Spyro in the days of old?" Red questioned the ancient dragon again.

"Indeed," the Chronicler answered.

"It is an honor to meet you," said Red, bowing.

"Please, Rofelam, do not bow to me," the Chronicler told him wearily. "I have chosen you as my successor, and thus, we are equals."

"I don't think I deserve such an honor," replied Red; "not after everything I've done."

"What you have done, Rofelam, is admirable and unprecedented," the Chronicler replied, his breath still coming hard. "You have made for yourself a separate consciousness, and split yourself from a soul that was evil by nature. Whatever crimes you committed in the past were not your fault, but rather, your destiny. You are a paradox, my friend; you were born a reincarnation of the Dark Master, but you have produced your own self from nothing. This accomplishment should not have been possible, and may the Ancestors be praised that things turned out as they did."

"Who has done this to you?" asked Red, realizing that the ancient white dragon was dying.

"The same monster from whom you yourself came," the Chronicler answered. "Do not feel as though this is your fault; it is thanks to your strength of spirit that Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx managed to get into this citadel before Malefor completely overtook you. But please, time is running out; my duty as Keeper of Time is hereby passed on to you, Rofelam."

Glowing, the Chronicler faded away. As he did, a similar glow surrounded Red, though much gentler than last time. Red lightly got on all fours as the bequeathment of the ancient dragon's power filled his body, changing it to be that of one of the dragons of old. When the glow faded, Red was a mottled black-and-white dragon with the same form as one of the ancient dragons, and was wearing the same tattered blue cloak and Time Crystal that were the the badges of the Chronicler's duty. He would never know it, but ironically, with his curvy horns and small snout, he somewhat resembled the Chronicler who had passed his job down to Ignitus.

~o~

It took the small army about fifteen minutes to get to the spot Elder Thomas had described, and Cynder had to admit, it was a good battleground, especially for a single assault from the air. Some would argue that the people on the tiers and slopes of stone would be pinned against the rocks if Malefor dove, but the ocean had made the rocks porous in the times when it had covered the cliff, and the traction on them was perfect beyond any place Cynder had ever seen. Also, the tiers made it possible for different fighters to be on different levels, allowing spellcasters' spells, archers' arrows, and other launched combustible and non-combustible projectiles to be released simultaneously with little danger of friendly fire. She explained as much to Spyro, Sparx, and everyone else, and as she had been raised on the battlefields, fighting for the Dark Master, everyone took her word for it.

The Professor asked the stronger dragons - namely, the Peace Keepers - to bring specific materials to build cannons, which he intended to have situated on the top levels of the cliffs, after some discussion with Cynder that had occurred on the way over. Spyro and Cynder, meanwhile, asked the Magic Crafters, mainly because they were the only dragons with no other assignments, to go and get a bunch of green gems so that the two could restore their magic. Those dragons that were called on flew away to do as they were told, the Elders returned to the Temple to gather the artifacts Thomas had mentioned, and Spyro and Sparx officially introduced Cynder to everyone.

"Cynder, this is Hunter," he began. He didn't bother telling Hunter Cynder's name; she needed no introduction.

"_Hunter_?" she repeated, surprised.

"Yeah, I heard you knew my great-great-great-great-great-several-hundred-thou sand-times-great grandfather," Hunter said. "I was named after him, you know."

"Wow," Cynder said with a smile. "I hope you're as good with that bow as your ancestor was."

"He is," Spyro assured her.

"Awesome," she said. "It's nice to meet you, Hunter."

"It's nice to meet you, too," Hunter answered.

"Hey, where are the archers you've been training?" asked Spyro.

"None of them are good enough to fight a legendary dragon of old," answered Hunter.

Spyro just looked at him.

"Okay, they're not bad," Hunter conceded, "but they're too scared to be here; Malefor's a bigger deal than the Sorcerer."

"Who is this Sorcerer everyone keeps going on about?!" Cynder demanded.

"A big, scary, freakish dragon that trapped everyone in the Shadow Realm a few months back," Sparx answered. "And I don't know about Malefor being a bigger deal than him."

"Sparx!" Spyro exclaimed. "Malefor is a _much_ bigger deal! The Sorcerer wouldn't have been a match for the dragons of old, but Malefor laid waste to the dragon race when we were at our strongest!"

"Yeah, but _he_ didn't mess with the Shadow Realm!" Sparx argued.

"He didn't _need_ to!" Spyro retorted. "That's the thing! He was - _is_ - powerful enough to wreak havoc _without_ dealing with the Shadow Realm!"

"Sorry I asked," Cynder muttered.

"It's okay," said Bianca. "The Sorcerer was the most powerful foe to have appeared in the worlds in _this_ era. It's understandable that the Calamity he caused is comparable to what Malefor did."

"Cynder, this is Bianca," Spyro continued, quick to resume introductions. "She's a sorceress in training. She used to be a bad guy, too, but she changed sides when she realized that her teacher, _the_ Sorceress, wanted to slaughter an entire year's worth of baby dragons."

"Well, that's as good a reason to switch sides as any," Cynder said.

"I'm really happy to meet you, Cynder," Bianca said to her.

"Yeah, she feels bad for you because you didn't have a choice when you were with the Dark Master," Hunter added.

"_Hunter_!" Bianca exclaimed at him.

"What?" Hunter asked. "It's true."

"How long have you two been dating?" Cynder asked them slyly after observing the pair for a moment.

"Eight years," Bianca answered. "How'd you guess?"

"It's obvious," Cynder answered. "Wow. A cheetah dating a rabbit. That's funny. It's nice to meet both of you," she said.

"This is the Professor," Spyro went on. "Yes," he added, seeing her questioning look, "that's actually his name."

"Okay," Cynder said with some uncertainty. "It's nice to meet you, Professor."

"It's good to meet you, too, especially since we're going to be working on cannons together," the Professor replied. "Do you, by chance, remember _my_ ancestor, Mole-Yair?"

"Cynder never met him," Spyro told the Professor.

"Oh," the Professor said, disappointed.

"Chin up, little guy," Sparx said; "Spyro and I will tell you all about him if we're still alive this time tomorrow."

"_Sparx_!" Spyro scolded his friend.

Sparx shrugged.

"This is the Professor's nephew, Blink," Spyro continued after a minute. "Blink has fresh-air-a-phobia."

"Fresh-air-a-phobia?" Cynder repeated, raising a metaphorical eyebrow.

"Yeah, I actually _like_ being trapped underground," Blink explained. "I kinda wish we had stayed on the beach."

"You should stay on one of the lower levels of these cliffs and back yourself into a corner," Cynder suggested. "Then, when Malefor comes, pretend he's an avalanche."

"Yeah, only try to kill it," Sparx commented.

"I might try that," Blink said, thinking. "Thanks!"

"No problem!" Cynder replied. "Happy to help!"

"This is Sheila," Spyro went on. "I'm not…really…sure…why she's here."

"Well, dragons can feel a good kick, too," Sheila pointed out. "I doubt we'll be able to shoot this beast out of the air. When he lands, I'll lend a foot. Anyway, nice to meet ya, mate," Sheila said to Cynder.

"Nice to meet you," Cynder replied.

"This is Sergeant Byrd," Spyro continued.

"A penguin with rocket launchers," Cynder observed.

"He can fly, too," Spyro said, feeling the need to mention this, as Sgt. Byrd was a _penguin_.

"Really?" she asked.

"Affirmative," Sgt. Byrd replied, "although having a jet-pack makes things much easier. I am fully trained in all forms of arial combat, and am eager to begin fighting the good fight."

"Ten-_HUT_!" Cynder said, taking on the tone and stance of a drill sergeant. Sgt. Byrd immediately stood to attention.

"Have you ever faced a dragon in combat before, in the air _or_ on the ground?" she demanded.

"Ma'am, no, ma'am!" Sgt. Byrd answered dutifully.

"Have you ever actually _been_ on the front lines in a real war?"

"Ma'am, no, ma'am!"

"Have you ever even _faced_ real danger?"

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!"

"Malefor is more powerful than anything you could ever imagine! Are you brave enough to face _him_?"

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!"

"Do you think you're strong enough to be of any help in this battle?"

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!"

"Good! One more question, soldier!"

"Yes ma'am?"

She relaxed and chuckled. "Why couldn't the Apes have been even _half_ as cooperative as you?" she asked almost wistfully.

"Ma'am?"

Spyro and Sparx gave her a look.

"They didn't work well in groups," she explained. "It was half the battle for me just to keep them moderately organized. At ease, soldier!" she added to Sgt. Byrd, who was still standing at attention. He immediately saluted, then complied, and everyone present laughed; watching Cynder drill him had been very entertaining.

Spyro and Sparx continued to look at Cynder oddly.

"What?" she said defensively. "So, I learned a few things about war when I was the Dark Master's puppet. Is that a crime?"

"No…" Spyro said slowly.

"On the contrary," said Bentley, stepping forward; "it's quite gratifying to be made aware of the fact that we have someone proficient in the official procedures of war among us ere the impending battle."

"Oh, Cynder, this is Bentley," Spyro said, quick once again to resume the introductions.

"Hello Bentley," Cynder said warmly.

"It is an honor to become acquainted with such a distinguished historical figure as yourself," Bentley said to her with a bow. "I'm told you're an exemplary member of your species in both brawn and wit."

"Uh…thanks," Cynder said, somewhat put off by the yeti's formality.

"Don't mind him, he always talks like that," Spyro told her.

"Yeah, he's like Volteer, only not as talkative," Sparx said.

"It's nice to meet you, Bentley," Cynder said as sincerely as possible.

"This is Agent 9," Spyro continued quickly. Then, he leaned over and whispered in Cynder's ear, "I think he's one of the Professor's experiments gone wrong."

"Wahoo! Nice ta meet ya!" Agent 9 said to her with _far_ too much enthusiasm, jumping in the air as he spoke.

"Uh, nice to meet you, too," Cynder replied hesitantly.

"And this is Zoe," Spyro moved on before Agent 9 could start his incessant, high-speed chattering.

"Hi, Cynder!" Zoe said affably. "It's nice to meet you!"

"Hello Zoe," Cynder replied, heartened by the fairy's relative normalcy. "It's nice to meet you, too."

"Zoe and I used to date," Sparx said.

_So much for normalcy,_ thought Cynder.

"We didn't really date," Zoe said.

"Are you kidding?" asked Sparx with a laugh. "You and Ami couldn't get enough of me! And that was before I could even talk!"

"Alright, that's enough," said Spyro. "Moving on. This is…Elora?" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I'm not fighting," Elora answered. "I just wanted to see you now that you're back to being one of the dragons of old. And to meet Cynder, of course," she added, turning to the black dragon. "It's nice to meet you, Cynder," she said.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you, too," Cynder replied. "Not much of a fighter, huh?"

"No, I'm no good with that kind of thing," Elora replied with a smile.

"It's Cynder, isn't it? _Very_ nice to meet you," Moneybags said a little too warmly, barging in.

"You too, huh?" Spyro remarked. "Cynder, this is Moneybags, the cheapskate - er, I mean, bear."

"Moneybags, huh?" Cynder repeated thoughtfully.

"It's nice to meet a new customer from a time when riches were everywhere." Moneybags said the word 'riches' with a little wriggle of joy at the mere word.

"Uh, Moneybags, gems weren't money back in our day," Spyro reminded him. "They're our _energy_. We _absorb_ them."

"But surely, those days are long gone," Moneybags said with a laugh.

"Actually…they're back," Spyro told him. "If you want to keep your precious gems, you should keep them away from us from now on."

"But you've always been my best customer!" exclaimed Moneybags, surprised and distraught by this news. "How will I ever be able to get too much money for my products? You're the only one who overpays for them!"

"Sorry, Moneybags; you'll have to find a new gig," Spyro said. "Maybe you should go back home to Avalar and stop bothering the Dragon Kingdoms."

"But dragons have all the _money_!" Moneybags whined.

"Okay, Moneybags, I think it's time for us to go," Elora said, leading the distraught cheapskate away. "It was nice meeting you, Cynder!" she called behind her.

"Yeah, thanks for coming to meet Spyro's _wife_!" Sparx called after her.

Spyro closed his eyes.

"_Wife_?!" exclaimed Elora, turning around.

A bunch of similar comments came from the other onlookers.

"_What_?!"

"His _wife_?!"

"You're _married_?!"

"Yeah," Spyro said uncomfortably in response to his friends' exclamations, "Ignitus married us before we left, since he was the only one who could do it for us."

For a moment, there was an amazed silence.

"Well…um…congratulations," Elora said finally.

"Thanks," Spyro replied just as awkwardly.

"This is awkward," Sparx commented.

Spyro turned to glare at his lives-long friend. "_You're_ the one who had to make the announcement!" he snapped.

"Oh, yeah," Sparx said, not in the least bit sheepish. "Sorry about that. Just thought I'd get it out there. You know, since you were gonna have to tell everyone eventually. I mean, come on; you two are wearing wedding rings. Someone was gonna ask sooner or later. Besides, Elora needs to know that what was between you two is gone now."

"What?" asked Cynder, narrowing her eyes.

"Elora and Spyro used to date, too," Sparx told Cynder.

"Yeah, for, like, a day!" Spyro exclaimed defensively. "Elora and I have been over with for almost ten years!"

Mercifully, it was at that exact moment that the dragons that had been out getting things for the battle returned. Amazingly, both the Elders _and_ the dragons that the Professor and Spyro had sent out returned in the same instant.

The Magic Crafters came back with a bunch of green gems and gave them to Cynder and Spyro. Spyro hadn't actually been one hundred percent sure that the cut, collected gems of modern days would still hold the dragons' life force, but the two absorbed them easily. Moneybags actually started crying when he saw this, and Elora led him away with a gentle hand on his shoulder as he cried for the fate of the world's gems.

The Peace Keepers, who had gone out for the Professor and Cynder, were carrying everything from electrical wiring to rocks; Cynder and the Professor had decided to work together on the cannons' construction, as Cynder had had some experience with the construction of the Apes' cannons, which had been effective. The Professor immediately went to receive the Peace Keepers, and Cynder was about to follow when she saw what the Elders were carrying.

In the days leading up to their final battle with Malefor, Spyro and Cynder had come across several sets of armor that had fit them perfectly, which had been around because at the time, Spyro and Cynder had about reached the age when the dragons of old would normally begin training. These were what the Elders were carrying; the others were carrying armor for the other dragons. Sadly, there was no armor for any of the other attending species, but Bianca suggested that she, Spyro, the Magic Crafters, and the Elders work together on making armor out of pure magic. This seemed like a good idea, and after Spyro and Cynder had chosen their armor - Spyro chose his silver set, which added extra power to any physical strike he made; and Cynder chose her gold set, which had various convenient side effects - everyone went their separate ways preparing for battle.

The Professor and Cynder oversaw the construction of the cannons on the highest tiers of the cliffs. These required rock, metal, and magic, as well as a few wood parts, but Cynder was a great help in making things go smoothly.

Bentley lent his club to smashing the boulders and such into smaller pieces, so that Cynder and the Professor could work with the materials.

Hunter set about making arrows from the scraps of the cannons' construction materials.

Spyro, Bianca, the Magic Crafters, and the Elders worked together on ward spells that would cover those who were under-protected. Afterwards, Bianca, the Magic Crafters, and the Elders, as well as other spellcasters, practiced their spells, while Spyro decided to be the lookout.

Zoe and the other fairies worked together to practice combining their powers. This was slow going, but very much worth it.

Blink and Agent 9 spent a little time working together on their lasers, making sure they were in good working order, and then Blink went to find a spot like Cynder had described, while Agent 9 started jumping around, trying and failing not to be too annoying.

Sheila practiced kicking on a rock face near the water line, and was able to punch a small cove in the cliff face, for which Blink was grateful.

Sparx practiced his new power and discovered that, over time, he could charge orbs of light to significant strength depending on the time he took on each one; meanwhile, the other dragonflies watched in amazement.

Sgt. Byrd did some maintenance on his equipment, then strategized his own battle plan in the air.

Later, when the cannons were done - amazingly, they had had time to complete them to a satisfactory working condition - some people changed activities. The Professor left, being unable to help in any sort of battle condition. Bianca and some of the other spellcasters set about lending their magic to their comrades, adding their own force to Sgt. Byrd's missiles, Hunter's arrows, Bentley's club, Blink and Agent 9's lasers, and Sheila's legs, while also putting into place the new ward spells that Spyro, Bianca, the Magic Crafters, and the Elders had constructed. Cynder became the overseer for all the various battle preparations, organizing everyone on the cliffs to optimize the usefulness of everyone's various abilities, and flew around the entire cliff area, giving instructions here and there. Hunter, after using the last of the useful scraps from the cannons' construction, began target practice on a soft target that he made, from which he could retrieve his arrows without damaging them. Bentley gathered medium-sized rocks which he could launch with his club's secondary use as a deflective shield. Sgt. Byrd landed in the position Cynder suggested to him. Sheila tried to control Agent 9, and Agent 9, getting bored, started forcing various people to play dodge-the-laser, especially Sheila.

All the while, Spyro looked out to the horizon from his position in the air, waiting for Malefor to arrive.

_This is for Ignitus,_ he thought.


	12. Chapter 10: Malefor's Last Stand

Malefor sped through the air, hurling himself forward with all the strength of his wings, relying on his memories as Red to guide him to the mainland.

Unfortunately, Red's memories were not Malefor's own, and were very hard to recall.

_I cannot believe that that insolent dragon managed to separate himself from me!_ Malefor thought furiously. _He _was_ me! And how did Ignitus manage to stall me for so long?_ He used his rage at these thoughts to drive himself forward, and was able to shave a few hours off the normal travel time.

When at last the mainland came into view, he felt a surge of triumph. He headed to the nearest point on the mainland, but after he was a few miles closer, he noticed a great deal of activity at a point a few miles north and west of the southernmost shoreline.

_Spyro,_ he thought. _Of course, why else would that whelpling go back to the mainland, except to gather his friends to help him? Fool! Even the dragons of old were powerless against me! His friends will be ants beneath my feet!_

Feeling the strength of his long-nurtured grudge rising again in his chest, he unleashed a roar and flung himself the last few miles to the small army that waited for him.

~o~

"Here he comes!" Spyro called to the fighters below him.

"Everybody, get into position!" Cynder called. "Wait for my signal!"

Quickly, everyone organized themselves into their places as Cynder had instructed them all earlier, according to how far their longest-ranged attacks were, placing the shortest-ranged fighters at the top with the cannons nearest Malefor's point of arrival. Those who could, or needed to, charged their attacks in preparation, while others, such as the cannon commanders, simply aimed, as Cynder flew up into the air to hover beside Spyro.

"Ready…!" she called below her, waiting for Malefor to be close enough to be hit by the shortest-ranged attacks that would be let fly at her signal. Everyone braced themselves for the order they knew would be coming.

Cynder waited several minutes, having misjudged the distance between Malefor and the cliffs, for which she silently berated herself. Finally, Malefor was close enough for her liking.

"_Now_!" she cried, and she and Spyro flew up high to get out of the way of the assault.

~o~

Malefor watched with mild wonder that was amazingly not drowned out by his rage as what appeared to be an entire wall of different projectiles flew in his direction. Even in his arrogance, he recognized that the different magical, mechanical, and makeshift missiles were too various to be blocked by a single spell.

_Not bad,_ he mused to himself, _but not nearly enough!_

In short order, he cast a spell to block the purely magical attacks, released a devastating blast of Fear power to knock away the purely mechanical attacks, and flew up to dodge the rest. He didn't really think any of the attacks would be very harmful, but he didn't want to be at all injured before he could even launch his own attack.

~o~

"Ready!" Cynder called down to the force below her, after seeing the first assault be warded off by the Dark Master.

Everyone readied themselves.

"_Fire_!" she cried, and a second cloud of missiles followed the first.

~o~

Malefor saw the second assault coming almost before it was launched, but, thinking quickly, he realized that, if things kept up as they did, he would be too busy blocking missiles to charge up his own attacks when he finally managed to reach the cliffs.

This time, instead of trying to ward off any of the projectiles, he changed direction, and flew high up, directly into a convenient cloud cover that hung over the battleground. He got into position directly above the crowd of his foes, and prepared to launch an assault that would end the resistance with a single, devastating blow…

~o~

Everyone watched as the Dark Master flew up into the clouds. Unable to see him, a ripple of unease ran through the crowd. What could they do now?

Cynder, having used this tactic herself before, called out instructions.

"Get ready!" she called, flying low over the small army. "He's going to come down on us like a lightning bolt, and he could land anywhere, so be ready to move! Don't bother charging or readying any attacks!" As everyone fortified themselves, Cynder said quietly to Spyro, "Come here," then flew to the southeastern edge of the cliff-ground.

"What?" Spyro asked her softly.

"We need to fly around the entire battlefield on opposite sides of a circular path," she explained quickly. "Once he starts to come down from the clouds, launch the most powerful Electric Orb you can muster toward the center of the circle we'll make, and I'll handle the rest."

"You mean you have a plan?" Spyro asked her, but she was already flying to the opposite side of the area on which the army stood waiting. Realizing he didn't have much of a choice, he started flying counterclockwise around the crowd, and Cynder did likewise.

As the two dragons circled the battleground, there was a silence that increased in tension with every passing moment. Apart from the wind that was softly whispering through the dragons' wings, everything was completely quiet. Too quiet.

Then, a gasp ran through the crowd as, looking up, they noticed that a point in the clouds directly above them seemed to be growing darker, like a thunderhead. Some of the onlookers blanched in fear, while others readied their weapons, aiming at the force that was collecting high above them.

"Hold steady!" Cynder called, silently raging that people were choosing different courses of action. _They're gonna get us killed,_ she thought.

The darkness above them grew for several minutes, and even Cynder started to worry. _How much power is he going to be launching at us, anyway?_

Suddenly, there was an enormous rumble from above, and Malefor hurled himself downward like an entire _avalanche_ of lightning bolts, gathering all his power together to unleash in a single blast on contact with the ground.

"Now, Spyro!" Cynder called, but she didn't have to; an enormous ball of electricity was already flying toward the center of the circle the two dragons made.

Praying to the Ancestors that her theory was right, Cynder flew only as close to it as she had to in order to trap it in a pocket of wind and did so, stopping its descent. To her delight, the electricity from Spyro's orb melded into her Cyclone breath, creating a whirlwind of wind and electricity which she controlled.

Quickly, she flew under the Dark Master and aimed the web of wind and electricity directly at the oncoming dragon. Malefor, going too fast to maneuver at all, hit the entire thing head-on.

The two forces collided with such a ferocity that most of the assembled army cried out in alarm. Malefor, in spite of Cynder and Spyro's combined forces, was hardly at all impeded by the force he met with due to the fact that he had so much power at the ready, though a good chunk of it was shaved off by the force of the combined elements, and Cynder, quickly realizing this, was just barely able to get out from under him before he crashed to the ground in an explosion of power that threw everyone backward from the blast radius, both on the ground and in the air, though the blast was not as powerful as it would have been if not for Cynder's ingenuity.

Not even pausing to observe the effect his assault had had, Malefor immediately started attacking everyone and everything around him, his tail whipping around and knocking out anyone unlucky enough to be in its path, his wings battering anyone nearby with crippling blows and blasts of wind, his claws tearing through everyone before him as he drove his way through the inexperienced fighters, dealing devastating blows in every direction, and his head, with its three horns and terrible jaws, impaling or sinking into anyone he could reach, throwing them yards away. Even without using any sort of magic, he was a devastating force, an army all his own, seemingly unstoppable.

Valiantly, Spyro's friends tried to attack the mighty dragon. Those who could attacked from a distance with lasers, arrows, missiles, or spells, while those such as Bentley and Sheila tried to get close enough to hit him. The dragons manning the cannons tried blasting their various forces at the Dark Master, the fairies swarmed around him, trying to combine their powers into a significant force, and even Sparx tried throwing as powerful orbs as possible at the rampaging beast, but all to little avail: Malefor shook all of these assaults off like pebbles thrown at him, even though the combined forces _did_ manage to wound him slightly.

Spyro and Cynder launched themselves down on top of Malefor together, putting forth all the power they could muster, and chaos ensued, each individual attacking in their own most powerful way. Malefor paid less attention to warding off the various attacks, and more to trying to kill Spyro and Cynder. He put in everything he had, knowing that this was his last chance to extinguish the entire race of dragons - or at least, the dragons of old - and also knowing that he had to kill or be killed in this battle.

Each attendant landed at least one blow on the great dragon, and Spyro and Cynder were able to combine their Electricity and Wind powers to unleash a doubly powerful force on their enemy. After over an hour of fighting, Spyro and Cynder sensed a shift in the tide of battle as Malefor was finally worn down. Malefor realized this, too, and redoubled his efforts, calling upon his magic now and blasting everyone with a variety of elements. The earth rumbled as it shook and split, the ocean rose up in enormous waves to crash down on the army in the form of both water and ice, the wind grew fierce and threw people against the rocks, lighting bolts rained down from the sky, Malefor's claws became blades of shadow, his teeth and tail were imbued with poison, and he breathed enormous blasts of fire in all directions.

Spyro was stunned; he didn't know how to use several elements at once. He hadn't even known it was possible, but Malefor was using almost every element in the world.

_"He has the kind of power that comes with age and experience…"_

Cynder's words ran through his mind as Spyro tried to regroup. He and Cynder tried fighting back with their own elemental powers, but even their new combination of Electricity and Wind was somehow turned back by Malefor's sudden release of his mastery over the elements.

"Cynder!" Spyro called to her as he realized something. "There's one element he's _not_ using!"

The two flew up over the Dark Master, trying to dodge the fury of the elements, while Cynder thought about what he said.

"I'm not using Fear!" she cried back over the roar of the raging maelstrom of power that whirled around the entire battlefield, "and you promised I wouldn't have to!"

"Use it so my Fire Breath can get through to him!" Spyro told her. "He might not be able to force it back if it's combined with an element that he's not using!"

"I hope you're right!" Cynder replied, deciding not to hold Spyro's lack of clairvoyance against him, and the two flew down on the terrible beast again. Spyro summoned all his mastery over the element of Fire, the element that had gotten him through thick and thin in both lives, and Cynder prepared to enforce Spyro's fire blast with her own Phantom Fright blast.

Together, they released as one the two elements with as much force as they could muster. The elements combined, and the result was a fiend of flames that burst forth and literally attacked Malefor, who in turn was so surprised by this that his concentration slipped, and the elements abated.

Spyro and Cynder glanced at each other, amazed by what they could accomplish by combining their elements, and wordlessly agreed on the next combination. Spyro shot Ice Shards down on Malefor, and Cynder added Shadow Fire to the projectiles. The result was a shower of needle-thin ice shards that burned with the force of Shadow. The storm assaulted Malefor before he could brace himself, and the ice burned through his scales and skin and filled his body, slowing his movements.

Spyro and Cynder knew what to do next. Spyro flew up high directly over Malefor and transformed himself into a wrecking boulder. Timing herself, Cynder hit the boulder downward with a Scorpion Strike. The combined force launched Spyro down on top of Malefor hard, driving the beast hard into the ground and filling his veins with venom. It was a mortal blow.

Spyro and Cynder gently landed by the fallen monster, who didn't rise. When he didn't, the chaos ceased, and everything was still as the fighters looked in awe at the fallen purple dragon.

The Dark Master lay still, utterly defeated.

"Spyro…Cynder…" he gasped with his dying breaths. "Why…did the Ancestors give you victory? Why…can't I win?"

"Because you were wrong," Spyro answered. "Purple dragons weren't meant to destroy the world. Your thirst for power drove you insane, and you stopped being a dragon."

"Millions of innocents lost their lives because of you," Cynder added. "Nothing can justify that. Nothing."

"_Was_ I wrong…?" the Dark Master whispered ponderously. Then, gathering a modicum of strength, he asked, "Spyro…Cynder…what did I become?" He swallowed and closed his eyes. "Am I a monster?"

"Yes," Spyro replied gently. "That's what you turned into when you let your drive for power control you."

"I understand now…" the fallen dragon said, barely audible. Then, he chuckled weakly. "Perhaps…my purpose…was creating the two of you. If I hadn't become…what I became…you two…would never have achieved…your potential. Perhaps…I did something good for the world…though I was so wrong…"

Amazingly, it was Sparx who flew close to the defeated creature and spoke.

"If there's one thing I've learned from all this, it's that no dragon is born evil," Sparx said to Malefor. "I mean, Red was _part_ of you, and he turned into a good guy. Maybe there's still some good in you, too."

Spyro and Cynder looked at Sparx, amazed; this was the last thing either of them would have expected of him.

"It's too late for me…" Malefor breathed miserably.

"I thought that, too," Cynder said, stepping forward. "Your madness for power infected me from the moment I was born, and when Spyro freed me, I was so afraid that being evil was _my_ nature. I was wrong, too."

"Cynder…" Malefor spoke, his voice filled with real remorse. "I'm so sorry…for what I did to you…for what I made you do…for what I made you believe about yourself…It was _me_, Cynder…_I_ put that thought in you…to use you…to bring Spyro to my mountain…You were never mine…"

"I forgive you," Cynder said, to the amazement of everyone present. "I know from you what it's like to be controlled by your own power, and I know that it wasn't entirely your fault."

"Spyro…" Malefor breathed. "I'm sorry…for what I put you through…for Ignitus…for what I said…" He closed his eyes once more, never to open them again. "I'm so sorry…for everything I've done…"

"Maybe the Ancestors can find it in their hearts to forgive you," Spyro told him. "As for me…I don't want to be like you. I can forgive you for what you've done to me, but that's all. When you see Ignitus and everyone else you destroyed, you can ask for their forgiveness. Maybe they'll forgive you, and maybe not."

"Being sorry helps," Cynder added.

"Thank you…both of you…" Malefor breathed as he faded away. With his last breath, he said,

"Spyro…be better than me…"

Then he was gone, and his body faded away into nothingness.


	13. Epilogue

With Malefor gone, the world returned to a state of peace that lasted for many millennia. Spyro and Cynder did, indeed, eventually restore the race of the dragons of old, who began to rebuild their old empire. Amazingly, the new breed of dragons was able to breed with the old ones, and the dragons produced from these unions were purely dragons of old. Sparx, after the other dragonflies were also returned to their old forms, met a female dragonfly named Kindel, who decided to be Cynder's partner even though she didn't need one, and settled down, too.

There had been few casualties in the final battle, amazingly; the magical wards had worked well, and only a few dragons, fairies, and other fighters lost their lives. None of Spyro's personal friends perished, and all of them were eventually able to return to their old lives (except, of course, for Moneybags, who struggled very hard to live in a world without money - even yellow gems, which hadn't existed before, were found to have magical properties, and were no longer used as currency).

Spyro and Cynder became the equivalent of the king and queen of their kind, and the whole world looked up to them. The two themselves, however, never ceased to be mindful of the possibility of a new danger rising in the world. They recognized that Malefor himself had merely been a slave to his power, and knew that something like him would happen again someday.


End file.
